Childhood Memories
by charipoo
Summary: That bracelet stands for friendship, and you should have taken that off years ago. Unless you think we're still friends, then, in that case, you're going to need to go to the Hospital Wing. Don't give up after reading the Prologue!
1. Prologue

**A/N: This story is just an idea I had. I was watching 13 Going on 30 and this idea came to my mind. (: If you watch it and think, you may see the resemblances. Here's the prologue. Please tell me what you think!**

_Prologue_

Hermione woke up to the sound of her mum and dad coming into her room with a plate of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and a chocolate cupcake in the middle with a candle sticking out of it lighted.

"Happy birthday, Hermione!" they yelled out. They started singing Happy Birthday to her as she sat up quickly in her bed, beaming at her parents. Her mum and dad sat down on her bed and held the plate out in front of her.

"Make a wish, sweetie!" her mum said, smiling at her now ten-year-old daughter.

Hermione closed her eyes for a few moments and when she thought of a wish, opened her eyes and blew out the candle on the cupcake. Her mum set the plate down on her lap and she started eating her breakfast-in-bed.

Her parents would do this every year on her birthday. They would wake her up for school(unless her birthday was on a weekend that year) with her breakfast in their hands. They would never let her do something like that on a normal day, for the plate could tilt and hash browns and eggs and ketchup and bacon would fall to her bed. Hermione's mum was crazy about having things clean.

"Make sure you don't spill anything," she said with a slightly worried look in her eyes as she watched her daughter eat.

"Don't worry, Mum. I know how to eat without spilling anything," Hermione replied with a smile. "And, thank you!" she said to both her mum and dad.

"You're welcome, Hermy. You deserve it, kiddo," her dad said, patting her on the back and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Daddy."

"All right. We'll leave you to eat and get ready for school. We've got to pick up Draco today, too, because his parents are in an important meeting again, so you've got to be ready five minutes earlier," her mum told her before they walked out of her room, closing the door behind them.

Hermione squealed at the fact that Draco would be riding with her to school. It was always fun in the car with him in there too. She also wondered what he got her for her birthday. She ate in a hurry and jumped up into the bathroom to brush her teeth and such. She threw on blue jeans and her favorite green shirt. She looked in the mirror and was satisfied with what she saw. She didn't really care how she looked so much. Just as long as she didn't look like a hobo with dirty clothes, she was fine. Her hair was untamable and completely impossible, so she just brushed through it to get the tangles out.

She ran downstairs and threw on her white jumper. Her dad usually drove her to school and he walked past her with his jingling keys and out the door to go start up the car. That was a sign that they would have to leave now. She put on her black Converses and headed out the door, too. Her dad's silver car looked extra silver and shiny today. The grass and trees looked especially green and the weather was absolutely perfect. It was as if the day made itself nice just for her.

Hermione got into the backseat, putting her backpack in the middle, and latched her seatbelt. Her dad adjusted the rearview mirror and off they went to Draco's house. His house was only a couple minutes away. They lived within the same neighborhood, but they weren't neighbors.

As they pulled up in the front, Hermione noticed that Draco was already outside his door, waiting for them to come. He ran to the car and got in quickly, clearly excited.

"Happy birthday, Hermione!" he said, accidentally throwing his almost-empty knapsack at her face instead of the middle. "Oops, sorry."

"That's okay, Draco. And thank you! I'm finally ten. The same age as you!" she said, beaming.

"But I'm still older," he said, raising his chin up.

"By seven days!" Hermione reminded him.

Mr. Granger chuckled at the two kids as he started driving them to school.

"I can't believe, I'm moving tomorrow…" he said, his voice trailing off sadly.

Hermione hit him, earning an "ouch!"

"Don't mention it! It's my birthday. I don't want to remember that on my birthday. It'll make me cry," she said. "And I know you hate it when I cry."

"All right, all right," he said, putting his hands up in surrender.

"So, what'd you get me for my birthday?" she asked as they got out of the neighborhood.

"It's a surprise. Oh, Mr. Granger, can Hermione come over my house today after school to get her present?" Draco asked kindly.

He looked at the child through the rearview mirror. "Of course she can, Draco," he said with a smile.

"Oh, Blaise is coming over, too. We're gonna--" He got interrupted when Hermione groaned.

"Zabini? I don't like him. He's really rude to me. And he called me a Mudblood! I don't know what it means, but I know it has something to do with me having dirty blood. Which I do not!"

"Come on, Hermione. You don't have to stay for a while if you don't want to. You can just pick up the present if you like. But I wanna see your face when you open it," he told her.

"Okay, okay," she said. "So, is _Blaise_ your new best friend?" She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. Her expression looked a little less happy than it did before.

"Of course not. He only has to come over because his parents have to talk to my parents. You're my best friend, Hermione," he assured her. She looked at him and smiled.

- x -

"Bye, Dad! I'll walk back home in a bit," Hermione said as she got out of the car.

"All right. See you later, kiddo," he said as he drove away.

Hermione waved to her dad until he was out of sight and sprinted to Draco's door. She rang the doorbell and heard a bunch of thumping around before the door opened to reveal Draco. Blaise appeared almost out of nowhere, glaring at her once he saw her. Hermione glared at him back and them looked back at Draco, her expression totally different.

"Oh! Your present is upstairs. Hold on, I'll be back in a sec," Draco said as he sprinted up the stairs.

Hermione and Blaise glared daggers at each other.

"What's up, Mudblood? Roll in any swamps lately?"

"No, Zabini. Will you shut that trap of yours? Your breath stinks," she said as she swatted the air in front of her face. "Seems like you were snogging a swamp a few seconds ago."

"We were just talking about you, you know," he said. Hermione had a curious look on her face when he said that. "Draco was saying--"

"Here it is!" Draco then yelled, with a large white book in his hands. He ran down the stairs and gave Hermione her present. "I made it for you, Hermione. It's a scrapbook."

She took the book from his hands and read what it said on the cover in black marker:

_Happy birthday, Hermione! I hope you like being ten. The seven days since I turned ten have been great so far. That's 'cause I'm always hanging around you. I hope you like my gift. I know you love the number ten because it's the first double-digit number, so I wanted to have an extra special gift for it. Remember, my favorite number is seventeen! That gives you seven years to make something for me. Enjoy!_

Hermione looked up and smiled at Draco, who was looking down at the ground awkwardly. He was blushing!

"Aw, thanks so much, Draco!" she said. He looked up at the sound of her voice. She hugged him and he uncomfortably returned it.

"Now open it up. It gets better," he said.

Hermione laughed. "Okay."

She opened the book and was in awe of what she saw on each and every page she turned. There were pictures of her and him, there were pictures of her and her family and her friends at school. There were baby pictures, pictures from parties that took place years ago, and some random pictures they would take. There were even the notes they would pass in class through the years glued in there. He wrote some jokes they had told each other and some memories down all over the scrapbook, in random pages.

All the pages were completely full and there wasn't one page that she liked more than another one. They were all decorated so well and not overdone. It was just perfect.

"I know you like looking at pictures and I know you like arts and crafts. I'm not a fan of the 'arting and crafting,' but I know you are, so I decided to put this together. And I know you love tulips, so on that page--" he said as she was looking at the last page.

She gasped, interrupting him. "It's beautiful!" Actually, she liked this page the best. It was covered in tulips, tulip stickers, and with pictures of just him and her. There was one of her whispering something in his ear, both of them laughing together, them hugging each other. In the middle, there was a picture of him with a cheesy smile and her kissing him on the cheek. On the side, she saw that there was a little pocket that said Take what's inside. She did so and inside, there was a silver locket. She opened it up and saw a moving picture in there of when she was whispering something in his ear and they laughed.

"H-how is it-- ?" she said, amazed at how the picture was moving.

"Erm… my-my parents are rich. So, they can afford something like that," he said. But she didn't really look like she was listening. He never told her that his family was a family of witches and wizards. He never told her that someday he'd receive a letter, saying that he would be going to Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Father said that 'stupid Mudbloods' get into the school, too. Maybe she might get a letter, too. He liked to be hopeful.

"Can you put it on me?" she asked him.

"Huh?" he asked surprised. "Oh, er, sure." She gave him the necklace and turned around so her back was facing him. He slipped the necklace up over her head and latched the little hook into place.

Hermione turned around and hugged Draco for a long time. He didn't care that Blaise was watching and that he would make fun of him later, he hugged her for a while. She decided to break it apart.

"Thank you again, Draco. I absolutely love it. And I'm gonna miss you," Hermione said.

"No problem at all," he said to her, looking down, as if he was hiding something. He looked up, suddenly remembering something. "Oh! I almost forgot." He started sprinting up the stairs again.

"Well, as I was saying earlier," Blaise, then, suddenly said. Hermione's head jerked in his direction. "Draco was telling me how he was so glad that he would be moving tomorrow because that would mean he would finally get away from you."

"Liar," Hermione immediately said. He wouldn't have made her this if he hated her.

"I'm telling the truth. He made all that stuff to let you remember him all through the years after he's moved, while he forgets all about you. He's a very good actor, you know," he said, sounding like he was telling the truth.

She thought about it for a while and didn't want to believe him. But she did. She was ten. She's gullible. She'll believe a lot of things…

He can be this mean. He's mean to a lot of people at school, but not to her. He's always asking girls out then dumping them later. He lies sometimes. He can be rather rude. But under that, he's sweet and caring and he's actually a very good friend.

But if he's really as good of an actor as Blaise says he is, then… was everything a lie?

She felt dizzy. She felt like crying. It was her birthday. She was supposed to be happy. Draco was moving tomorrow. Moving because he was annoyed by her. He didn't like her. He was never her friend. He's always hated her…

The more she thought about it, the more she believed it. Blaise smirked at her silence.

Draco came back downstairs with a single white tulip in his hand. "Here, the tulip will never die. It's special and--"

"I don't want your stupid, fake tulip, Malfoy," Hermione said, her face reddening out of anger and her eyes watery because she was about to cry.

"What?" He was confused. Why had she just called him by his last name? "It's not fake, it's--"

"Stop telling lies, Malfoy. Just stop. Have a great time forgetting about me in… wherever you're moving to. I _hate_ you, Malfoy. I hate you!" She threw the scrapbook he spent weeks making at his chest and ran away. He saw that she was wiping her face as she was running away.

Draco couldn't breathe. He felt dizzy. He felt like he was going to be sick. He felt like he was going to faint. Then, he felt anger when he heard Blaise's laugh.

He turned to him. "_What_ the _bloody hell_ did you say to her?" he yelled. He was definitely mad when he started cursing.

"I said nothing!" he said, putting his hands up as if he were innocent. "She just started crying because you're moving away."

"She wouldn't have thrown the scrapbook I've spent making for four weeks at me. _What_ did you say to her?" he said seriously.

"I swear on Merlin's beard I didn't say anything."

"Blaise," he said, grabbing the collar of his shirt with his free hand and bringing his face closer. "Tell me what you said to her."

"Fine. Let go of me, will you?" Blaise asked. Draco did so. "I told her that you were glad you were moving away because then you'd be away from her."

"WHAT?!" Draco screamed.

"And I told her you were a great actor and that you made her that scrapbook rubbish so she'd remember you while _you're_ forgetting about _her_."

"You…" You wouldn't think that a ten-year-old would have such a colorful vocabulary. "I'm running after her…" he said, laying the scrapbook on a table and carrying the tulip.

"Merlin, Malfoy. You act like you fancy the mudblood or something," Blaise said.

Draco turned to glare at him. "That's because I do, Zabini. Ever since I first met her."

He ran to her house and rang the doorbell. Her parents answered and they said that she didn't want to speak with him right now. He even went around to the back of the house and threw rocks at her window. She pulled open the curtains only to stick a paper on it.

**GO AWAY. AND HAVE FUN FORGETTING ME.**

She stuck another paper under it.

'**CAUSE I SURE WILL.**

Hermione looked down at him for a second, then closed the curtains behind the notes.

He fell to his knees on the ground. Tears made their way out of his eyes. He looked at the bracelet on his right wrist and the Undying Tulip in the other.

The fact that he wasn't going to see her again scared him. That they wouldn't even _write_ to each other. He fancied her so much, but was never able to tell her. She was his best friend, oblivious to any signs of feelings he had for her. She wasn't like any other girl in the school. She was one of a kind. He didn't know if he could find another girl like her. Ever.

He stood up and made his way back home, the Tulip in his fingers and one last idea floating in his head.

Hermione woke up feeling terribly tired. Good thing it was Saturday. She wouldn't even be able to make it through Math if she had went to school. She recalled in her mind what happened the day before and tears started falling down her face again.

She went to her windows and opened the curtains to remove the notes she had taped to it. There, outside the window, taped to it, was a letter. _Hermione_ was written upon the front and a tulip was attached to it.

She started crying even more as she realized it was from Draco. Hermione opened the window and reached her hand over to the other side of it to take it. She laid the tulip on her bed and read the letter he had written.

_September 19, 1990_

_Dear Hermione,_

_Even though you probably won't believe me, what Blaise said wasn't true. I __will__ miss you and I will __never__ forget you. And, I'm sorry._

_The tulip attached to this letter is, I thought, more important than the scrapbook I spent four weeks making for you. I would give you the scrapbook back, but I wasn't able to figure out a way to tape it to the window because it would just fall. You'd probably throw it away anyway._

_The tulip is an Undying Tulip. It's real, not fake. You can even feel the petals and the stem, and take it to the National Place That Will Tell You If Your Tulips are Real. It's real. It's specially… grown so that it will never die. It's supposed to symbolize our undying friendship, but I guess it's too late for that now. I just wanted to give it to you. You can throw it away if you like._

_And it came to my attention that you still have the necklace on that I gave you._

Hermione felt her neck and, sure enough, it was still there. She had forgotten to give(or throw) it to him.

_I hope these two things that took me hours to think about will help you remember me. But, if you really want to forget about me, I won't mind if you throw all of this away._

_I still have the bracelet you made me on my wrist. Made with my two favorite colours, green and silver. Every time I look down at it, I'll think of you._

_I'll never take the bracelet off and I'll never forget you. I promise._

_Draco_

**A/N: Please, review? Reviews will keep me writing. (:**


	2. Green and Silver Threads

**A/N: Uber-quick update, right? I just couldn't wait to post the first official chapter up. Now, this chapter starts out their seventh year at Hogwarts. (: The first part explains everything first, though. Thanks for those who reviewed! I hope to get more feedback!**

* * *

_Chapter 1  
Green and Silver Threads_

One depressing year passed. Hermione was so sad she just lost her best friend. Draco was sad for the same reason, but he was more beat up. He started acting mean and nasty towards people that would ask him why he always looked so down. He got into the habit of acting that way. Hermione buried herself in books more, reading everything she could put her hands on. She focused a lot more in her classes and was the student with the highest GPA in her school. Schoolwork took her mind off everything that's happened. She didn't make many friends with her frizzy brown hair and buck teeth. People who were willing to be her friend would stop talking to her because she sounded like a know-it-all.

Then, that one day in August, Draco finally got his Hogwarts letter. He read it and sighed. He wished Hermione was going to the school, too. But there was a huge chance she wouldn't. He still kept hope though. That he would see her again. Most people didn't like her because of her hair and teeth. But no one ever looked at her personality. It was inspiring. She was just so smart. What she said would make you think. She didn't really care how she looked. And she was there for you.

Hermione got _her_ letter on the same day and was surprised what the address on the letter said. It said the exact location of her room and was written in fine handwriting. On the top, there were little bite marks from some kind of bird. She hid the letter until she got into her room to read it. She hoped it was from Draco. He's the only one besides her mum and dad that would know the exact place where her bedroom was. When she opened and read it, she was terribly wrong. However, she got unusually excited. _This_ explained everything weird that's been going on every time she's gotten mad or scared. It was as if it was magic. And, it turned out, it was.

She told her mum and dad and they didn't believe her at first, but when they read the letter, they were convinced. Hermione squealed in delight and smiled a true smile she hasn't shown in a while. Her parents were just ecstatic that she was happy about something again.

September 1st came and they saw each other. Draco immediately noticed her hair and just how she walked. Hermione immediately noticed his blonde-almost-white hair. She saw that his appearance changed a lot. Like his hair for one; it was gelled back and she _hated_ it like that. Draco was shocked. She was a witch. His days and months of hoping was worth it.

He didn't get a chance to talk to her, however. The necklace he gave her was found nowhere on her neck. He was still wearing the bracelet, but it was hidden under his shirt and cloak.

When Draco finally found the perfect chance to talk to her, she had already made new friends. They were practically inseparable. One had red hair and freckles and one was The Boy Who Lived, who he was supposed to hate, according to his father. He immediately hated them just because they got to talk to Hermione as much as they wanted.

On top of all that, his father decided to tell him how devoted he was to the Dark Lord. He even showed Draco the mark on his arm. Draco flinched when he saw it. His father told him that he should be rude to muggleborns or 'mudbloods.' Lucius questioned if he was still friends with that 'mudblood Granger' and Draco shook his head, no. He was so confused; he didn't know whether to follow his father or his mind.

His friends always made fun of the muggleborns. They would often make fun of Hermione, too. Draco couldn't do anything but laugh along. He didn't want to be called a 'Muggle-lover.' He got into the habit of making fun of all the 'mudbloods.' He would pick on Hermione constantly _just_ so he could hear her voice and talk to her in some form. She would look at him differently and glare at him and come up with a snide comeback that was incredibly smart.

Soon enough, second year came and there wasn't any time to talk to her because of the Chamber of Secrets incident. He got so frustrated that he continued to be meaner and meaner to her. He called her 'mudblood' for the first time. She seemed confused, but angry at the same time. He wasn't sure if she knew what it meant, but he knew she knew it was bad.

His father sent him letters once a week, telling him how he would be part of the Dark Lord's plan one day. Draco flinched. What if he didn't want to join this Death Eaters Club? His father blew up at him in a Howler that he read in the safety of the empty Slytherin common room during classes.

Third year came, and he was losing hope. He had gotten Hermione so worked up that she had the nerve to slap him! Hard. He had gotten furious at her and insulted her more and more.

When it came fourth year, he gave up completely, and sort of forgot why he was trying so hard. He convinced himself that he didn't fancy Hermione anymore, but the truth was, deep, deep, _deep_ down, he still did. Draco had cast a Disillusionment Charm on the bracelet, so that he wouldn't have to worry about hiding it. He soon forgot all about the pieces of thread wrapped around his right wrist.

As the years went by, people thought him to be charming and devilishly handsome. He found himself snogging girls in hallways, but he never got into any kind of real relationship. He would always try to find a girl that was right for him, but all the girls he went out with were not 'his type.'

Fifth and sixth years were the hardest. They were the years of the war. Draco realized he had a mission to fulfill. He had to kill Dumbledore. He couldn't, he just _couldn't_. Snape ended up casting the spell on him and everyone immediately said he was on the Death Eaters' side. It wasn't true. I knew it wasn't. Snape had no choice, since I didn't decide to kill him.

_Everyone_ fought for two years straight, still somehow getting some education in their minds. Harry, going on dangerously horrid journeys, found all the horcruxes and destroyed them. The only thing left to kill during sixth year was Voldemort himself. A bloody and fierce war took place on the very grounds of Hogwarts. Draco was fighting for Potter's side, believe it or not. He did not want to be involved with his hating father who killed innocent muggleborns. He had more heart than _that_. The war ended, many lives lost. Voldemort was defeated after a long duel between him and Harry. (**A/N: So, basically, the whole war took place for two years. Imagine the fifth and sixth books squished together for their fifth year, and the seventh book as the sixth year. It's hard to explain.**)

Hermione took off her necklace before first year started and hid it away in a secret box she's had since she was a baby. Draco and her being friends was erased from her mind when she became friends with Harry and Ron. Every time he would insult her, she would glare daggers at him, and hate him even more.

Seventh year was starting. A warning bell rung in Draco's head for some reason. That would usually go off whenever there was not much time.

But not much time for what?

When he saw that golden-brown hair, he knew why.

- x -

Draco(with Pansy practically attached to him), Crabbe, and Goyle walked into their usual compartment, the seventeenth one. When Draco first got onto the train in his first year, he counted seventeen compartments, because it was his favourite number.

"Pansy, get off me!" he said, practically yanking her off of him. He opened the door and they all sat down in the compartment. Draco sat by the window, across from Crabbe. Goyle took the seat next to Crabbe and Pansy attached herself to Draco again. He sighed in disgust.

"How was your holiday, Malfoy?" Goyle asked, trying to strike up a conversation to break the silence that had occurred.

"Nothing special. Same as every year, Goyle," he replied like he didn't care. He never asked how Goyle's holiday was.

"Oh, Draco, you have _such_ soft hair," Pansy said, trying to flirt with him. She started running her fingers through his platinum blonde hair. "I love it when you're hair is gelled back."

He hastily hit her arm away and fixed any strands of hair that she may have ruined. She gave up on his hair and started running her hand down his right arm. Her hand soon reached his wrist. "What's this?" she asked, pulling on an invisible bracelet.

Draco whipped his head around to his wrist. He had forgotten all about it. It's been there for so long, he got used to it being there. Memories came rushing back to him. The scrapbook, the necklace, the tulip, the letter, _Granger_. Her tenth birthday, stupid Blaise, her crying, the signs she taped on her window. How he used his Quidditch broom to tape that letter up on the second floor, moving away from his house.

He started wondering. Did she throw the Undying Tulip away? Did she even _read_ the letter he gave her? Did she still have the necklace he gave her? Did she even remember that day? Does she still think about it?

"Draco, sweetie, are you all right?" Pansy asked.

He cringed at the way she called him "sweetie." He got up from his seat, exited the compartment, and leaned on the wall outside it. He looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then, he slowly took out his wand with his left hand and undid the spell he cast four years ago on his right wrist.

"Hold on, Ron, I'll go get the lady with the trolley now!" he heard that familiar voice laugh as she got out of her compartment, next to where he was standing. When she turned around and saw him, she froze.

The green and silver threads revealed themselves around his wrist. Draco looked up at her. She looked at him in disgust at first, but when she saw the colours that appeared on his right wrist, she gasped. She recognized that bracelet.

"I-is that-- ?" she asked, unable to move or walk.

He quickly covered up his wrist with his shirt and cloak. "What's it to you, Granger?" he rudely interrupted. He glared at her and walked back into his compartment. She was left alone.

"Oh, my god," she whispered, putting a hand to her heart. She looked like she couldn't hold herself up. She started falling to one side. The wall caught her and she started breathing heavily.

Memories she's forgotten for so long came rushing back to her all at once. She couldn't even imagine Draco being the way he was before. He was always so nice, so caring… to _her_ at least. He had made her a scrapbook that took him four weeks! A month. Just for her tenth birthday. Because it was her favorite number. The necklace she gave him, with the first moving photograph she's ever seen. She remembered how amazed she was about it, before she figured out she was a witch. The necklace. _The necklace_. Did she still have it in her little childhood box? The tulip, her favourite flower, that was on the letter. She had put it in the box, too. It hasn't died.

She couldn't believe it. He still had the bracelet. The bracelet she had given him on his tenth birthday, seven days before hers, almost seven years ago.

And you know what was the worst part? Neither of them got to say anything about the Head Girl and Boy badges shining on each of their robes.

- x -

Draco got back into the compartment and didn't speak to anyone for the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts. Pansy left shortly after he arrived back to go to her other friends. Draco was glad.

He stared out the window, blocking out everything that may have been going on in the compartment. His eyes kept glancing down to his wrist, every time thinking of Hermione. He could cast the Disillusionment Charm on it again, but then that golden-brown-haired girl wouldn't see that he missed her.

Which he absolutely did _not_.

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**A/N: So, sucky summary: Both Draco and Hermione have forgotten about the past, Draco still has the bracelet, Hermione is very, very shocked, and they are both Head Boy and Head Girl. Oh! Just so you know, in this story, they don't have some fancy new headquarters to stay at like in a lot of other fanfics. (:**

**Anyway, did you like it? Hate it? Have any suggestions? Then, review! I've already written some of the next chapter already. So, if you want a quicker update, click that itty-bitty, purplish-blue button down there and type in some freakin' awesome text. =D**


	3. Breathe

**A/N: I'm SO sorry for my slowness in updating. I think I posted this story up at the wrong time, but don't worry, I am continuing it! (: Updates may be a little slow because I'm back at my hometown for vacation for the whole summer. I've been really busy meeting up with my friends and going around everywhere, so bear with me, please! Anyhow, here's Chapter 2!**

_Chapter 2_

_Breathe_

Hermione was, what you could say, totally freaked out. She was completely shocked and dumbfounded. She tried to decode why Malfoy was always insulting her with rude names and snide comments. She tried to find out why, if he 'missed' her like he said he would in the letter, he treated her the way he did. He had kept the bracelet. It was still unbelievable. Why hadn't he ever talked to her during first year? When she saw him, she was shocked, but thought that sometime during that year, he would say something. It never happened. And she was too stubborn to say anything.

Why was he such a prat? He calls her know-it-all, mudblood, foul creature, buck-toothed beaver, bush-haired freak, and countless other names she didn't feel like thinking about. And nowhere, _nowhere_ on his face did she find that he didn't mean the names he called her. He was foul to her, so she was foul back.

But _why_?

Hermione had went back into the compartment with her friends, forgetting that she was supposed to do something for Ron. Ron was about to ask her where the trolley lady was, but the aged woman came to their compartment right when he was going to say so. Ginny noticed that there was something wrong, but wanted to get a Chocolate Frog before she asked.

Hermione stared out the window as they crowded the woman. When Ginny asked her what was the matter, she gave her a look saying, _'I'll tell you later.'_

She had listened and laughed along to their conversations about their summers. Hermione, even, saying amusing happenings that occurred during her summer. She pushed the fact about Malfoy out of her mind for now. She wanted to have a fun first day back. Even during the feast, she was successful in not letting her mind wander off to why that certain blonde boy kept his promise when he acted like he didn't care for her at all.

However, when Professor McGonagall announced that the new Head Boy and Girl come to the front after the feast, Hermione's stomach churned. Her and Draco did as they were asked and listened to what the Headmistress had to say.

"First off, congratulations to both of you for earning the title of Head Boy and Head Girl." She nodded to each of them. "You both will have to patrol every night, taking away house points to anyone who may be out of bed. Please be fair. Don't let someone pass just because they're in your house. You both will have the responsibility of scheduling the Prefect meetings and such. Also, you will have the responsibility to come up with fun events for the school. Prefects may help you out, too." McGonagall reviewed the small list in her hands and looked back up at them. "That's all I have to say for you. However, I must tell you, please be civil to each other. You two have the highest grades in the school and you both seem to have the right amount of responsibility to do everything I've told you. You will have to work together a lot, and it won't help if you can't even be civil for an hour or so. Please act like a role model to everyone in this school, especially the younger ones. Failure to follow these circumstances will lead to stripping of your badges. Do you understand?" Both Draco and Hermione nodded. "All right, then. Patrols will start next week. Good night."

"Good night, Professor," Hermione said politely.

The two started walking out of the Great Hall. It wasn't until they were out the doors did Draco say anything. "You're such a teacher's pet, mudblood."

"What do you mean?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"_'Good night, Professor,_'" he mimicked in an exaggerated girly voice. "So bloody annoying."

"It's called being _polite_, Malfoy. You should try it sometime," Hermione told him.

"I didn't get this fucking badge because I was _polite_, did I?"

"Ha! Your father probably paid all the galleons in the world to get you that shiny piece of metal."

"You probably read all the books on earth to learn how to be all stuck-up to get _yours_."

"How the _hell_ do you get anything done with that _huge_ ego of yours?" Hermione asked.

"I've always wondered how you _talk_ with those enormous _beaver_ teeth in your dirty mouth. And I wonder how _anyone_ can _see_ with that gigantic mass of frizzy hair."

Hermione glared at him. "You're unbelievable!" she yelled out.

"I know I am, Granger," he told her with a smirk.

"You insult me, _try_ to bring me down, tell me you hate me all the time, and you _still_ have the nerve to keep that bloody bracelet on your wrist!" She couldn't believe she said that. He gaped at her for quite a few seconds. "_That_ bracelet stands for friendship, and you should have taken that off _years_ ago. Unless you think we're still friends, _then_, in that case, you're going to need to go to the Hospital Wing." She was breathing heavily from her loud outburst.

"Fuck you, mudblood," he mumbled to her.

And with one last glare, she stalked away and went up the flights of stairs to enter the Gryffindor Common Room.

She got into her four-poster bed and tried going back to sleep, but thoughts of what just happened kept on coming back to her. As well as the items he had given her for her tenth birthday.

She thought of where she put the Undying Tulip, letter, and locket he had given her. All of the items were in her childhood box. It was in her suitcase. Even though she hasn't opened it in years.

_No, you will not check if they are still there. First day of classes are tomorrow, you have to get a good sleep,_ she kept on telling herself as she shut her eyes and tried forcing herself to fall asleep.

Hermione gave up an hour later and got out of her bed. She went to the floor and opened up the suitcase labeled _HG_. Opening it, she found the pink and white wooden box in a corner. She took it out and put it on her lap. She just stared at it for a while, debating in her head whether she should open it up or not. Was she ready to relive those times?

Making a decision, she slowly unlatched the metal opening at the front, and lifted the top slowly, her eyes closed. As she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a beautiful white tulip. She gasped quietly and took it out to get a good look at it. It had no flaws. The petals had no signs of decaying and the stem was still absolutely green. The white petals were soft and smooth, the leaves on the stem looking as alive.

Her breathing got shorter as she remembered the day he had given her that very tulip.

Hermione looked down at the box again. There was a silver locket, neatly placed on top of a piece of parchment. Her breathing hitched in her throat as she reached out to take the two items with her other free hand. She set the tulip down delicately into the box as if just dropping it would ruin it completely. She put the letter down on her lap and examined the locket first. It was made out of fine silver with tiny diamonds outlining the shape of the heart. There was a tiny latch to the right of the heart. She slowly, _slowly_ unlatched it. She caught her breath again and closed her eyes for a second before opening the locket. Her breathing ran short again as she looked at the coloured, moving picture of her and Draco when they were eight or so. She was whispering something in his ear as he was laughing. Hermione kept her eyes on Draco for a while. She hasn't seen him smile like that since _the_ day. The worst birthday, and overall _day_ of her life.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute as all the memories of their past friendship overwhelmed her.

Several minutes later, she decided that she was ready to see the letter. She set the locket down on her lap and lifted the beige envelope from the box. She took a minute to stare at the cover of the envelope where it said her name in that fine handwriting of his. It was the days when he called her _Hermione_ instead of _Granger_ and when she called him _Draco_ instead of _Malfoy_.

Hermione turned the envelope over and took the actual letter out. She opened it up slowly and prepared herself for the worst.

As her eyes read and sunk in every word ever-so-slowly, she stopped at the mention of the scrapbook.

She still remembered how it looked, how it felt, that amazing last page. It had taken him four weeks. She didn't really remember the conversation her and Zabini had, but she knew it was something about their frienship being fake, or an act. It made a lot of sense, considering the person he is now.

Hermione continued reading the letter. She chuckled when he had written _'the National Place That Will Tell You If Your Tulips are Real.'_ She continued reading.

_But, if you really want to forget about me, I won't mind if you throw all of this away._

She did eventually push their friendship out of her mind enough so that she forgot about it, but she didn't throw anything away. She never felt the need to. Her breathing got shorter as she continued reading.

_I'll never take the bracelet off and I'll never forget you. I promise._

_That_ just took her breath away.

- x -

The next day was the first day of classes. This was a very important day for Hermione, so she made sure she got up at exactly the right time to make herself look presentable and gather up all her textbooks that she would have to take to each class. At breakfast, everyone got their schedules. Harry, Ron, and Hermione put their schedules together to see what classes they had with each other.

"Well, that's great," Ron said sarcastically. "All three of us only have one class together."

"And that's Double Potions," Harry added.

Hermione groaned as she scanned over her schedule again. The two boys looked at her confusingly. "Have you two read the paragraph at the top?"

"No. No one ever does. Why?" Ron asked.

She looked at the paper and started reading a sentence out loud. "_Head Boy and Head Girl will have the same schedules, due to cooperation skills and ease of working about their responsibilities during their free period._" She put the paper down on the table. "That's just great," she added sarcastically. "They just _have_ to make it so that the Heads see each other all the time."

"Wow," Harry said, reading the line Hermione read over again in his head.

Ginny, who was sitting next to Harry, had already finished looking over her schedule and tucked it away in her robes. Soon, Harry, Ron, and Hermione did the same and they started eating their breakfast normally.

"So, how's working with the ferret?" Ginny asked Hermione as she took a bite of her cereal.

"Well, we haven't actually worked together yet, but I know it's going to be horrible," Hermione replied. "Yesterday, after we met Professor McGonagall at the front, we were already bickering. He's so irritating."

"What was he saying to you?" Harry said.

"Practically the same thing he always says. He made fun of my hair and my teeth. I really don't know what he's talking about, though. My teeth are fine, thanks to my parents, and my hair isn't _that_ massive anymore, is it?" she said, looking up at the three questioningly.

"It really isn't," Ginny told her, looking at her hair. "See, I thought there was something different about you when I saw you. I already noticed your teeth."

"Is that a good thing?" Hermione asked.

"Of course," Ron answered for Ginny.

They continued eating their breakfast, discussing classes and such. Students started filing out of the Great Hall, signaling that classes would be starting soon. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stood up from their seats and walked together until they had to separate. Hermione went her way to Charms and entered the classroom. There were only a few people in there so far: Dean Thomas, Parvati Patil, Hannah Abbott, Neville Longbottom, and Susan Bones. Hannah and Susan were sitting together to the left and Dean and Neville sat next to each other, with Parvati occupying the desk behind them. The seat next to her was vacant. Hermione decided to sit by her.

"Hey, Hermione!" Parvati said cheerfully when she sat next to her.

Dean and Neville greeted her also, and Hermione did the same. The four of them started talking about summers and such as more and more students filled the room. Hermione sighed when she heard the familiar voices of Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise take the seats behind them.

Soon enough, class begun, and Professor Flitwick walked into the classroom, standing on his pile of books at the front.

"Good morning, class! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. For those of you who may not know already, I am Professor Flitwick," he introduced himself.

"Of course we know who you are, you dunce," Draco muttered to his friends. Hermione rolled her eyes at that comment.

"Now, today will be fairly easy. We will be just reviewing things you already should know," he said. "Now, everyone point their wand at the feather in front of you." Everyone did so. "Does this look familiar, everyone?" Everyone nodded and muttered 'yes.' "Now move your wand in the swish-and-flick movement, and say _Wingardium Leviosa_. This is from first year, students!"

Practically everyone was able to do it. There was only one person who couldn't, which was Neville.

Draco snorted. "Longbottom can't even hover a feather. Imagine how hard it would be for him to hover his fat arse into the air."

Hermione's grip on her wand tightened as she still held the feather hovering over her. Her knuckles turned white, she was so angry.

"Look at the Queen Mudblood," he said loud enough so he knew she could hear. "Looks like she's getting pretty angry, doesn't she?"

Hermione let her feather float down to the desk and hovered a big, paperback book from the desk. She sent it flying towards his face, earning an "ouch!"

"What the hell was that for, mudblood?" he yelled, completely angered by her now.

She turned around in her seat to face them. "Oh, did that hurt?" she asked sarcastically.

He started coughing. "Ew, I think there's a piece of your hair in my throat." The Slytherins snickered at what he said. "Make out with any beavers lately, Granger?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said. To show them what she meant, she smiled at the Professor passing by their desks to go help Neville, showing her teeth. Flitwick nodded in return.

Draco rose his eyebrows, seeing what she was getting at.

"Well, your hair is still ugly," Crabbe said, thinking he said something smart for once.

Draco glared at him and then faced Hermione again. "Doesn't matter. You're still as ugly as ugly can get."

Parvati then turned around and said something. "Don't you talk about her like that, or you'll be earning a hexing from me." She even had her wand ready in her hand.

"You haven't exactly been known for your oh-so-fabulous hexes, _Patil_. And since when were you invited into this conversation?" Draco asked.

"She could join in on any conversation she wants," Dean then said, turning around also. "Especially if it involves _you_ insulting a friend."

"Students, what is going on over there?" Professor Flitwick suddenly asked. He was at the front of the classroom, trying to review over something else when he noticed them talking.

"Wow, I didn't know you could pull it off, Granger," Draco said. "You actually have _friends_."

"Damn right she does. Unlike you. Do you actually call those goons of yours _friends_?" Parvati asked him.

"Honestly, don't you know that they only follow you around because they're scared of you?" Dean said.

"Mister Malfoy, Thomas, and Miss Granger and Patil, please be quiet! I am trying to teach a class here!" Professor Flitwick yelled.

"Ha! You probably don't even know what the word 'friend' means," Parvati said.

"I disagree, actually," Hermione spoke up. Everyone looked over at her. She hasn't spoken in a while. "_Maybe_ deep down, he probably knows what it means. He's just too much of an egotistical, ferret-faced _git_ to find out."

Draco tried to think of something smart to say to that. He couldn't think of anything.

"I hate you, Granger," he said instead.

"Likewise."

- x -

As the week went on, Draco and Hermione found themselves insulting and bickering _whenever_ they could. It was like this was an extra-special year of bickering with each other. Whenever they walked past each other in the hallways, they would exchange the usual "mudblood" and "ferret." If there was more time to bicker, they would make the insulting-match longer. Whenever Hermione saw the bracelet still on his wrist, it angered her further, so she sometimes couldn't help but make it longer.

After hard work and too much arguing, Hermione finally got him to talk to her about when the Prefect meetings should be. It took a long time because of their need to insult each other, but they finally agreed on having the meetings every Thursday.

Thursday came, and Hermione was walking to the meeting room by the Room of Requirement. She was the first in the room, as she thought she would be, and looked at the familiar room that she used to go to when she was Prefect. There was one long table, with two chairs at the head of the table for both herself and Draco, and chairs at the sides. It was the perfect amount for all the Prefects from all the houses.

She sat down in one of the chairs at the head and took out a piece of parchment and quill to start writing down things she would say at the first meeting. It shouldn't be that hard, since it was only the first. All they would have to explain was their responsibilities that started Monday and what they would have to do if they caught a student out late and such.

She was so into writing that she didn't even notice that someone else had entered the room.

"Mudblood." He was the first to acknowledge her.

Hermione turned around. "Ferret," she said, turning back to her parchment, straightening it out. She had glanced at his wrist.

"Why isn't anyone here?" he asked.

Hermione grinned. "I told you that the meeting started a seven forty-five, so you wouldn't be late for when it actually starts at eight."

"I wouldn't have come late. If you look at the time, it's exactly seven forty-four," he said matter-of-factly.

"As Heads, we should be the first to arrive at the meetings, not the last," Hermione told him.

"I'd arrive _on time_. Not late, not early. I'm responsible, Granger."

"Yet you've been late to class so many times this year already."

"I've only been late _three_ times," he said as if it was an accomplishment.

"Term started three days ago!" Hermione yelled.

"It's not like I plan when I'm going to be late. It's for important reasons."

Hermione straightened the piece of parchment on the table. Then, she turned around in her chair, facing him, looking at Draco properly for the first time during the conversation.

"Enlighten me," she said. It wasn't a question. Hermione expected him to babble on about how he will not follow orders from a mudblood, or how he was better than her or something, but he didn't. Surprisingly, he obliged.

"Sometimes I'm caught up in reading letters, and sometimes it's for... other reasons. Snogging girls, you know?" He smirked. Hermione made a sound that showed she was disgusted.

"You're disturbing," she said.

"Look who's talking."

Hermione glared at him as he smirked. She absolutely _hated_ him. She turned back to the table and straightened out the parchment again.

"That bloody parchment is already straight. Will you stop doing that?" he asked, annoyed.

"So_rry_. I like things neat." She gave him a dirty look and looked down at his wrist as if she didn't already know it was still there.

"And _stop_ looking at my fucking wrist!" he cursed. He was fed up with it. She was constantly glancing down at his wrist instead of _him_. Girls were usually more fascinated with his face than his wrist.

"Then _stop_ wearing it," she said simply.

He walked closer to where she was sitting, so she could see how angry he was about this.

"Do you still have the locket and the tulip?" he asked suddenly. It was random, in a way.

Hermione just stared back at him for a while, shocked at the words that just came out of his mouth. She never thought he would mention anything about the items from her childhood. She wasn't prepared. She didn't have a clue of how she was going to handle it if it got too far. Wasn't anybody going to warn her about this?

"_Granger_, for Merlin's sake, _do_ you?" He was getting impatient with her.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. It didn't really do anything, for it just came back.

"I do, actually," she replied with all the confidence she could. Inside, she really felt weak and just wanted to lie down in her bed right now.

"Well, that tulip stands for _friendship_ also. So, don't keep on yelling at me about the bloody bracelet if _you_ still have the things I gave you, Granger." He slammed his fist down on the table in anger.

"You need to calm the _hell_ down," she cursed. It surprised him.

"Then _you_ need to stop looking at my wrist. It annoys the hell out of me," he said.

"And it annoys me how you still have it on," she added.

"Shut up! I fucking hate you, Granger."

"Then why don't you take the thing off?" she asked, her voice rising. "Everything, obviously, during our childhood was _fake_! I'm surprised you didn't take it off right when you moved!"

His glare intensified and he walked closer to her to make his expression seem more menacing.

"Fake? _Fake_? If everything was _fake_, I would have taken off the bloody bracelet, Granger," he said. "If it was fake, I wouldn't have flown on my broomstick, up to your window in the middle of night, taping the note and tulip on it. I wouldn't have stayed there, balanced in the air, until one in the morning to figure out _how_ I could get that scrapbook to stay on your window, _later_ figuring out that I couldn't. If it was fake, I wouldn't have _cared_ enough to do all that _just for you_."

At that time, Prefects started filing into the room, ending their conversation.

Good thing Draco was at least a little smart, for he did a lot of the talking, knowing what to say by glancing down at the parchment. Hermione was going to get a big yelling from him after this meeting, because she barely did anything. She was too busy trying to breathe.

**A/N: And, there you have it! I hope you guys haven't given up on me yet. Thanks for reading and please review! They keep me going.**


	4. Plan

_Chapter 3_

_Plan_

"So, when do you plan on telling me what's been bothering you?" Ginny asked Hermione while they were doing homework together in the library. Harry and Ron were at Quidditch Practice, for it was Tuesday. The brown-haired girl looked up from her empty parchment that was supposed to be her Charms essay.

"What do you mean?" she said, though she knew exactly what she was referring to.

"You're working on an essay that's due tomorrow, and you usually do those three days in advance. Your replies to Harry, Ron, and my questions are short, and you're definitely not as happy as you normally are in the beginning of the year," Ginny replied knowingly. She really did know her too well. She refused to make eye contact with the younger redhead. Ginny was being unbelievably patient with her.

"I'm just stressed out about working with Malfoy and I haven't been getting much sleep considering all the homework and duties I have to fulfill," Hermione said. She wasn't lying, but she did leave out one more thing that's been bothering her.

"Oh, and also, your comebacks to that ferret when you bicker are not as smart as they could be. And I know that no matter how exhausted you were in the past, you _always_ had the energy to insult Malfoy," she explained her knowledge. "So, obviously, this annoyance is from the one and only ferret."

"Well, this year, I'm just too exhausted to come up with smarter comebacks. You don't know the difficulties that come from being Head Girl. It's tiring," Hermione said. It wasn't really a lie either.

"And you also told me that you would tell me what was wrong with you on the train," Ginny said. "What happened?"

Hermione sighed. It's not like she could get away with a simple 'nothing.' Ginny was smarter and much more of a fighter than that.

"I bumped into Malfoy when I went out of the compartment to get the trolley lady," Hermione said, hoping Ginny would let her get away with just that.

"It has to be more than just _'I bumped into Malfoy.' _ Something must have happened."

"He... just brought back some stuff from... a while ago... that made me upset." Hermione didn't know how she was going to explain the story of their childhood.

"Like what?" Ginny asked, urging her to go on.

Hermione sat back in her chair and pushed an invisible strand of hair behind her ear.

"Er..." She was struggling with where she should start. "Our childhood." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Ginny dropped her quill... and her jaw. "Ch-childhood? Does that mean you _knew_ him be-before...?"

"I've known him since I was four." She still wasn't making eye contact. She felt weird telling her about their hidden childhood. No one knew about it except her parents, his parents, and Blaise Zabini.

Ginny choked on her saliva. "Since-since you were _four_? How come I've never heard about this? And _what_ happened?"

"I met him when I was in preschool. Something happened on my tenth birthday that... caused us to not talk anymore," Hermione started. She was fiddling with her fingers, thinking ahead of time of what she was going to say. Ginny thought she looked like a little child admitting to her mom that she was the one who stole the cookie from the cookie jar. She continued with what she knew was going to be a long talk. "So, it was my tenth birthday..."

Hermione explained about how they were best friends, earning a surprised remark from Ginny, saying, "You? Him? _Best friends_? No one could have ever guessed..."

She continued with how she had went to his house to get her birthday present with Blaise there. She told her about the bracelet she had made him for his birthday. She told her about the scrapbook, the tulip, and locket, how Blaise and herself had a conversation that caused her to throw the stuff he gave her at him. How he had thrown rocks at her window, what the papers she stuck her window said, how she cried herself to sleep that night. She told Ginny about how upset she was that she lost her best friend, how she found the letter and tulip taped to her window, and how she still had all these items.

Then, she moved on to the story on the train, how she saw that he still had the bracelet on his wrist until now.

Ginny's mouth was open the whole time, completely shocked by this new realization. Hermione and _Malfoy_? Best friends?

It was silent for several minutes.

"Do you have anything to say?" Hermione asked. It felt good to finally bring her hidden past out to someone.

Ginny swallowed hard, finally closing her mouth. "That's... new."

"Yeah, since thirteen years ago," she muttered. She checked the time on the clock in the library. "That was a good forty-five-minute talk."

"Forty-five minutes?" she asked incredulously. "Wow."

"Patrol starts in five minutes. That conversation ended at a perfect time. Want to walk to the meeting room?" Hermione asked her.

"Sure."

They gathered their things in their knapsacks and slung them on their shoulders. They then started their journey to the meeting room by the Room of Requirement.

"I still can't believe that you spent _practically_ only one year before Hogwarts started for you guys. But I know he wouldn't have kept that thing on if he didn't care. Which means he still cares now. You don't remember that conversation you had with Zabini?"

"Barely. I just remember him saying that everything was an act and that he was glad that he was moving away so he'll be away from me."

"This is unbelievable. The scrapbook, Undying Tulip, and locket? That's so sweet. And throwing rocks at your window? It's like an old muggle film, except with ten-year-olds," Ginny said. Hermione looked at her with a questioning look. "Hey, I've watched muggle things before on that telly thing of yours. Dad's crazy about muggles, remember?"

Hermione laughed. "Of course."

"So, that's what's been bothering you?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, he tells me he hates me all the time, but he _still_ wears the bracelet -- he still kept his promise. I don't get it," Hermione said, frustrated.

"It's the same with you because you still have the tulip, locket, and letter," Ginny pointed out.

"I'm actually thinking of throwing those things at him too. Not literally..."

"That's horrible! Okay, so he's a big, huge, slimy git, but he has some heart if he still has the thing. I'll bet he still has the scrapbook hidden somewhere in his Manor-home place."

"Maybe," Hermione said, tired of thinking about this. "This is ridiculous. I've forgotten about my past for so long and it just comes back without even _warning_ me? Does life hate me?"

Ginny chuckled, though she knew it wasn't the time. Hermione didn't notice.

"No, it doesn't hate you. It probably just wants you to do something about it," Ginny said.

They reached the meeting room and dropped their stuff on the long table. There were several other knapsacks there, and only a few people. Everyone would meet here first, then Hermione would give out where they would patrol, then they would go on with their duties.

"That long conversation made me later than I usually am. I'm always the first one here," Hermione said as if she was ashamed of herself.

"But you're still early, so don't fret."

"Malfoy better not be late again, or I'll seriously murder him and his ferret arse," she said through gritted teeth. He's been late every single day for patrols so far. One day, he didn't even bother to come at all.

"He's coming, Hermione. Don't worry. And so there's a second day where he doesn't come again. Is it that big of a deal? At least you wouldn't have to see his face for a couple more hours."

"It's great that I don't get to see him, but he is _Head Boy_ for Merlin's sake. He should be more responsible than this. It makes me angry how he's not even helping in planning events for Hogwarts. He's doing practically none of the responsibilities we have, leaving me with even more work," Hermione explained, frustrated.

"Then talk to him about that during patrol. There's two hours of doing basically nothing." Ginny made sure her voice was calm.

"Two agonizing hours of bickering and bickering and bickering..."

"You two are an odd bunch." The redhead rolled her eyes. "So, where are Mr. StinkyBrains and I patrolling today?"

Hermione chuckled. "You'll be patrolling the Grand Staircase," Hermione replied. "Which reminds me, it looks like everyone's here. Except one."

As if on cue, Draco came into the room, looking disheveled, and yelling, "Bloody hell, Pansy. Get the fuck away from me!"

"Fine. If you don't like my evening snogs, don't come at all!" Pansy yelled back, outside the door.

"I never _came_," he said, mimicking her voice when he said 'came.' "I was on my way to patrols and you jumped on me, god dammit!"

People in the room snickered at the conversation they were able to hear. Even Hermione had a smile on her face.

"UGH!" Pansy groaned like a little girl. She stomped away, saying loudly, "Stupid Malfoy. Fucking prat. Can't even snog!"

Everyone in the room laughed at the girl's words. Most were clutching their stomachs from laughing so hard. Hermione didn't laugh as hard, but was laughing. Draco's teeth were gritted and he looked completely angry and embarrassed.

"Okay, everyone," the Head Girl said above all the Prefects' laughing. "Rachel and Miles, you will be patrolling outside on the Hogwarts Grounds. Ginny and Michael, the Grand Staircase. Susie and Carl, the library. Tim and Grace, the wing by the Statue of the One-Eyed Witch. Nikki and Louis, the first and second corridor, where the Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Muggle Studies classrooms are. Malfoy and I will be taking the Dungeons today. Does everyone know where to go?" The Prefects nodded. "All right. Go to where you've been assigned. Dismiss."

Everyone filed out of the room and went to their desired places. Draco and Hermione took the required turns and stairs down to the Dungeons. Patrols were incredibly boring, but it's something that they had to do. There were not many people who were out past curfew, so it was always pretty much boring and awkward.

If Hermione was allowed to, she would allow Draco and herself to never have to patrol in the Dungeons. She actually could, but she made the schedule so that everyone would get each area evenly. She was too fair to change it how she wanted. Honestly, she hated patrolling the Dungeons, even if she would be with someone the whole time. It was darker than any other corridor and the Bloody Baron lurked around here. Though none of the Hogwarts ghosts could do anything to you, it still creeped her out.

It surprised her how neither Draco nor herself have insulted or acknowledged each other yet. They would be bickering like mad by now, never really stopping until a long time. During patrols, it did get quiet and they did get tired of arguing, but they found each other at random times muttering small insults.

Hermione fought the urge to look at his wrist, for she knew he was going to see her and get mad.

_Just sneak a little peek..._ a voice in her mind said.

_No! Don't! This silence is something new. Don't ruin it by looking at his wrist!_ another voice said.

_Come on, just look at him. He won't notice. Look at him, he's angry and hasn't even spoken to you yet! He certainly wouldn't notice a simple glance at his wrist._

_Silence is golden!_

_Just a little glance._

This was maddening. Her inner voices were fighting at whether she should look at Draco's wrist or not. For the love of Merlin.

She looked at his wrist. Green and silver threads. Still there. He didn't notice.

Her mind wandered back to the conversation Ginny and her had minutes before patrols. She couldn't believe she had finally spilled it all out to someone. It was relieving, but it didn't make that annoying thought at the back of her brain stop nagging at her. It still wondered why he still had it on, and it still wondered why _she_ still kept everything too. Maybe she should give everything back to him. But how? She could start an argument about how their friendship was fake again. Yeah, that would get him worked up. Then, she could take the required items out of her pocket and throw them at him and stalk away at the end of patrols. _Ha!_

She would definitely do that Monday when she would actually have the items in her pocket. Sounds like a master plan.

Hermione snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the guy next to her laugh. It was a light, genuine one. She thought of how much he should do that more often. Then, she glared at him.

"Why are you laughing?" she asked.

"Your face when you're thinking. It's pretty goddamn hilarious if you ask me," he said, his laugh dying away.

Hermione looked away from him and blushed. She must have been smiling to herself when she was thinking of her master plan.

"Not as funny as _your_ face when you're yelling at Parkinson," she fired back.

The smile disappeared from his face and she almost regretted bringing it up. Almost.

"That wasn't funny," he said through gritted teeth.

"Then why was I laughing?" A smile crawled on to her lips, flashing back to that moment of Draco and Pansy yelling at each other.

"Maybe your beaver --" He stopped when he realized he couldn't insult her teeth anymore, for they weren't big now.

Her smile grew. "Don't have a comeback to that anymore, Malfoy?"

"Shut the hell up, Granger."

His perfect teeth were gritting against each other so hard, he was surprised they hadn't shattered yet.

"_'Can't even snog!'_" she mimicked Pansy's voice. "That was pretty goddamn hilarious, wasn't it?" She had used the words he said earlier. "Sounds like it's true, too."

"_Ha_! 'Cause _you_ can," he said sarcastically. "Your little Weaselbee was probably relieved after he got your lips away from his forever by breaking up with you."

"That was a year ago! We never even snogged," Hermione said defensively.

"I can see why," he said, smirking.

"At least I managed to still keep him as my friend. How many of your ex-girlfriends do _you_ still talk to?"

"I don't talk. I snog." He sounded proud.

Hermione made a disgusted noise. "Pig."

"That's what you look like."

- x -

"God, Granger. You're unbelievably irritating sometimes," Draco said to her while they were in the library during their free period on Monday.

"And you aren't?" Hermione asked him as she hunched over from her standing position to write something down on the piece of parchment in front of her. She had stood up from her seat when Draco and her started arguing. "We have to finish the schedule for _at least_ this whole week..."

"So where are Susie and Carl going to patrol today?" he questioned, hunching over the piece of parchment also. They were unusually close, but Hermione pretended not to notice.

"They'll be in the Dungeons today. I already told you." Hermione was getting annoyed by him, but she tried to stay calm.

"Stop acting like you're annoyed," he snapped. Odd how he could tell. He was good at being able to tell if she was annoyed now. It was the only emotion they showed to each other. That, and anger.

She stood up straight, making him stand up straight also, so he could look taller. She took a small step back when she realized how close their bodies were. "How can I not? We had already planned the patrols for the next month, but _silly_ me thought that you would be responsible enough to not _burn_ the schedule by _accident_."

"_I_ wasn't the one who burned it. Pansy took it from me and fucking thought it would be funny if she burned it. Obviously, it causes quite the tantrum from a certain mudblood. I, however, didn't find it such a big deal," he said.

She glared at him. "How could you not think it's a big deal? We wouldn't even have to be working together right now if it didn't happen! As a matter of fact, consider anything I give you important."

He snorted. "As if I'd accept anything you'll give me in the future."

"Well, you sure accepted that schedule your little girlfriend burned up." She hunched over again and wrote something down on the parchment.

"She sure as _hell_ is _not_ my _fucking_ girl_friend_," he said seriously.

"You emphasized a lot of words in that one sentence," Hermione pointed out bluntly without looking at him.

"She's not my girlfriend," he mumbled.

"I heard you the first time. And I was just kidding. Not in some funny way, though," she said, standing straight up again and playing around with the quill with her fingers.

He glared at her. "What else do we need to plan?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I said at least this whole week. God, don't you listen, Malfoy?"

"It took us half an hour just to plan today's schedule! How long will it bloody take to make four more days?" he said frustratedly.

"Stop complaining, will you?" she snapped at him. "It only took us so long because _you_ can't seem to stop throwing insults at me every three seconds, causing me to throw some at you, causing us to bicker like mad. We should already be done by now."

"Then get your mudblood arse to work, then." He turned on his heel and started walking away, thinking by some chance in the universe that she wouldn't notice.

"Your ferret face is going to help me, too."

"I'll only work until our beloved free period ends."

"It ends in twenty minutes!" she yelled, looking at the clock.

"Exactly. I don't want to work through dinner."

"No, Malfoy. You will work as hard as I'm working to get this done. I'm sick and tired of you being too _damn_ lazy to get your share of the work done and dumping it on me. You better get your ferret arse back over here and help me get this done."

She seemed to be cursing a lot lately, which means that she's been angry lately, considering she only curses when she's mad.

"Until free period ends only." He turned back around to face her. She was looking at him in anger, annoyance, and a tiny hint of desperation that he's never seen etched on her face before.

"Until we are done." She crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn't going to let him off the hook anymore.

"Until free period, Granger."

"See, it's arguments like this that hold us back," she said smartly.

"It's mudbloods like _you_ that make the world so hard to live in."

"_You're_ the one who's being difficult right now! If you could just stop insulting me for an hour, then we'd be _done_!"

"If you could stop being an irritating know-it-all, then I wouldn't throw any insults at you."

"Crabbe and Goyle are irritating dimwits and you don't seem to insult them at all."

"Because they're not as irritating as you, Granger."

"As _me_? Look at you! You're the one just taking insults out of the air and whipping them at me! Just get your arse over here and _help_ me for Merlin's sake!"

He groaned and walked back to the table she was standing at. "I fucking hate you, Granger," he muttered. He put his hand on the table and turned the parchment so it was easier for him to read. The green and silver threads caught her attention almost immediately. It reminded her of the locket, tulip, and note she had put in her robe's enormous pocket this morning. She wanted nothing more than to give him the items right now. "Stop looking at my wrist." How did he _know_?

"I'm looking at the parchment, you dimwit," she lied.

"No you're not, mudblood. I can feel your eyes on me."

She gave in. "Well, it's right in front of my bloody face."

"Then move so that it's not."

"Why don't you just take it off?"

"Sounded dirty there, Granger." He smirked.

She glared at him and groaned. "Seriously, why?"

"Why does it sound dirty? Well, you desperately told me to take--"

Hermione groaned. "Just shut up, Malfoy."

- x -

**A/N: There's Chapter 3! I hope you guys liked it. (: Now, review!**


	5. Remember

_Chapter 4_

_Remember_

"Does Malfoy have to be _that_ annoying?" Hermione asked as she sat down next to Ginny for dinner, twenty minutes after it started.

"Apparently," Harry said.

"What'd he do?" Ginny asked as she took a bite of her bread.

"He has to make it _so_ difficult for us to make a schedule for the next four days of patrols. We had actually planned a whole month's worth already, but Parkinson burned it up."

"We were wondering why you were late to dinner," Ron said. "Harry and I were gonna come and look for you when we were done eating."

"If I'm ever late for dinner, it's because that ferret is being difficult again," Hermione assured them.

The rest of the dinner contained of Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch and Hermione and Ginny discussing what just happened between Draco and her during free period. When dinner was over, the four walked together to the Gryffindor Common Room. Patrols didn't start until two hours. Harry and Ron took both the armchairs by the fire, while Hermione and Ginny sat on the couch between the armchairs.

"Hey, did you guys hear about Dean and Parvati?" Ginny asked all of them, changing the subject from their boring Quidditch talk.

"No!" everyone said surprised, thinking that she meant that they had gotten together.

"They've gotten together," the younger redhead told them. Turns out they were right.

"_What_? Since when?" Ron asked.

Dean and Parvati have always told everyone that they were _only _friends for ages. No matter how much everyone told them that they fancied each other, they denied it every time.

"See? I _knew_ they fancied each other. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it," Ginny said. She looked towards the portrait hole. "Hey, there are the two lovebirds right now."

Everyone looked towards the portrait hole and saw Dean and Parvati talking and laughing. They were closer than friends usually are, but they weren't just friends anymore, were they? Dean was the first to look up at the four people staring at them.

"Stop looking at us all shocked, you boneheads," he said with a smile. Parvati giggled. They walked over to where they were sitting and joined Hermione and Ginny on the couch. Parvati sat on Dean's lap.

"So, how are you guys doing? Finally realized that you two actually _did_ fancy each other?" Ginny asked.

"Apparently," Dean replied.

"Since _first_ year, when we all first met, everyone could see that you fancied each other," Harry said.

"We actually knew each other since we were kids," Parvati told them. "Since we were about four or five, right?" She looked towards her knew boyfriend.

"Five. We were in kindergarten," Dean answered for her.

Hermione whipped her head around to them. They've known each other before Hogwarts, too.

"I remember he told me that he did fancy me when we were ten. But I told him I didn't feel the same way. We were still friends, though," Parvati explained.

"Of course. You, after all, gave me that Pumpkin Pasty when you told me that you didn't return my feelings," he said with a smile. "It pretty much cheered me up."

She hit him and said, "You gave me a singing Valentine when you said you liked me!" Everyone laughed.

"Wow, you guys have known each other for too long," Ron said.

_Yeah,_ Hermione thought. _Way too long._

- x -

"Damn it, Granger, the looks you're sending at my wrist will become the death of me. It kills me enough that I have to be in your presence every sodding day," Draco said, his voice increasing into a yell every word he said.

"Then take the bracelet off, then!" Hermione yelled back at him.

Seems that patrols today have started with yelling.

"_Why_? Why does it bother you so fucking much that I still have the damn thing on?" he said.

"It frustrates me! It makes me _think_ more than I have to. It aggravates me whenever you tell me you hate me because then I think, 'Why does he still have the bracelet on, then? He must have _some_ heart in him.' Then, you insult me again and again, constantly, and it makes me wonder why the _hell_ you still have it, why you kept your promise when you act like you don't give a care about me in the world!"

They had stopped walking and turned to each other.

"Then don't think about it more than you have to! Why must you always have the answer to everything?" he asked.

"Because, Malfoy, it's who I am. I don't know why, but if there's something that I can't figure out, I have to find out what it's about."

He turned around, running his fingers through his hair frustrated, saying, "I knew that," he said quietly. "I've always known that, it's how you _always_ were."

Hermione was shocked that he still remembered her personality when they were younger. It was so long ago.

"Then why'd you ask?" she said, knowing he wouldn't answer it. She continued. "What's your reason? If you know _that_ about me, then you know how I'll keep going and going until I figure it out."

He turned back around to face her, opening his mouth and closing it again. He didn't know what to say. Many awkward moments went by. Hermione was waiting for him to say something, while he was thinking about _what_ he should say.

Draco wasn't even completely sure why the bracelet was still on his wrist also. A few days ago, he had flooed back to the Manor and dug up the scrapbook that had been in his closet since seven years ago. It was forgotten and gathering dust. Blowing off the dust on the cover, he read what he had written on there and turned page after page. He had stared at each and every picture, amazed at what he had spent four weeks making for her. He almost fell onto the floor, looking through it, reliving the moments he saw in the unmoving memories. It was the time his father didn't even know about Voldemort yet, so everything was easy. He hated how his father forced him to almost become a Death Eater, to perform that horrid task to kill Dumbledore, which if he didn't he would die. Everyone would always tell him that he was exactly like his father, and he didn't want to believe them. Even though he had barely just discovered it, the bracelet stood for a very significant time to him. It reminded him about how he wasn't like his father at all, for he was friends with a muggleborn when he was younger.

But it's not like he could say _that_ to her.

He turned away from her and quickly started to walk. Hermione had to jog just to catch up to him.

"Malfoy, there's no point of even trying to walk away because you're stuck with me for another forty-five minutes whether you like it or not," Hermione said, her voice shaking a little from the fast pace they were walking.

Knowing that she had a point, he slowed down.

"How about we just not talk?" he suggested through clenched teeth.

"How about you tell me why you still have it on?" she asked.

"How about you tell me why _you_ still have the tulip and locket?"

"You want them back?"

"Why would I want a bloody tulip and locket back?"

"Because that's what I intended to give you today. Or, if you get me that mad, throw them at you like I did with the scrapbook."

Draco stopped walking and turned to face the wall. He put both of his hands on it and dropped his head down. He hated being reminded of that.

Hermione was behind his back, waiting for him to say something. Her arms were crossed over her chest.

He had _cried_ over her for Merlin's sake. She was the _only_ girl he had ever _cried_ over. The last seven years were just _fine_. Both had forgotten about their childhood and insulted each other like the world was supposed to be. Stupid Pansy for pulling on the bracelet, causing him to get reminded about it and taking the charm off that made it invisible.

"Do you—" he started then stopped.

"Do I what?" Hermione asked sternly.

He sighed and took his hands off the wall. "Do you have them… with you?" he said, turning around.

"Yes," she said simply, letting her arms fall to her sides.

There was a silence for a few moments, building up tension, while he debated in his head whether or not he should ask his question.

"Can I see them?" he asked unsurely.

"You can _have_ them."

"Why do you have to give everything back? Do you know how hard it is for me to just get reminded about it?"

Hermione was surprised that _he_ even had a hard time with all this. He was _Malfoy_. He didn't care! "Yes. That's why I'm giving them back. I no longer want any of them, for we despise each other."

"Then why haven't you thrown them out? I told you I wouldn't mind if you did," he said. Hermione's breath hitched in her throat. He even remembered what he wrote in the letter. "Why do you have to _give_ them to me?"

She didn't want to throw them out. They were too pretty to rot in the garbage.

"Because I don't want to. Do you know how much galleons that you probably spent for that? You'd probably want to sell it to add more money to your never-ending fortune."

"I don't need any more money. Let them spoil in filth."

"Well, since you wanted to see them, why don't you just throw them out after I give them to you?"

"Do you expect _me_ to do that when I can't even take the bracelet off my wrist?"

"Why is it so hard for you to get rid of everything, then? You obviously hate me. You remind me every single day that you do. It should be like throwing away a piece of parchment."

"It's-it's not that _easy_, Granger. And if I'm not mistaken, you tell me you hate me too. So throwing away the items should be the same for you."

"You're the one who practically _makes_ me hate you. With your never-ending insults and such."

"You're the one who makes me hate you, too, with your know-it-all attitude."

"Which was caused by _you_."

"How can your attitude possibly be my fault?"

Hermione was silent for several seconds. It was true, though. It _was_ because of him that she started getting into books and learning about everything in the world. When he had left, she started hiding behind books to forget, avoid about talking, and avoid hearing about him. Reading took her into a whole new world where none of her problems existed. It helped her childhood disappear for so long.

"Bloody hell, Granger, answer my fucking question."

She could hear him cursing at her, but she was looking down at the ground, reviewing for the umpteenth time in her mind, that horrid day.

"_Granger_," he said menacingly.

"What?" she said calmly, annoying him further.

"Answer my question." His teeth were clenched again. He did that a lot when he was angry.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, how I act now is because of you. Me realizing that our whole entire 'friendship' wasn't real brought me down so much. I cried and I cried and I cried. You know what I did to forget about you? I _read_. I read textbooks, novels, short stories, everything. It worked for seven years, didn't it?"

Draco's mouth was slightly open from the information he just received. It was because of him.

"But, see, because of _you_, I became the oh-so-horrible, oh-so-rude, oh-so-_mean_ person you know _so_ well now. After you threw the scrapbook I spent a month making for you, people kept on asking me what was wrong constantly and I got annoyed. I snapped at them, told them to shut up, until it grew on me too much that my whole entire attitude changed."

"You've been the same your whole life. Pretending to be my best friend, probably using me for help on homework or—"

"Shut up," he said sharply. "Just shut the hell up. I already told you it wasn't fake, so I'm not going to tell you again, but you constantly nagging me about it makes me want to just rip your brains out."

"You insulting and telling me you hate me all the time makes me forget about that conversation more and more."

"Then _don't_ forget it, Granger," he said seriously. "Because what I said was completely true."

Hermione shook her head and ran her fingers through her rough hair. "I'm tried of this. When you say stuff like that, it makes me _think_ when I don't want to and drives me crazy when it shouldn't. I don't want to deal with this rubbish anymore." She reached into the huge pocket in her robes and pulled out a bright, yellow, and very alive tulip and a shining silver locket. She then took out a frayed envelope with her name on it. Hermione felt like crying just looking at the items. Draco gaped at them as she reached them out towards him. "So just take the items and do what you please."

He looked at the flower and jewelry in shock. His mind flashed to that day for the hundredth time. He remembered when he bought that single flower. He remembered how when he was younger, the beautiful flower reminded him of how pretty Hermione was. He remembered how much he started fancying her more when he saw the expression on her face when he gave her his gift and when she hugged him, thanking him for the gift.

"God, Granger, you made me feel so many things about you that day," he said, still lost in his thoughts.

Though Hermione was curious, she didn't ask what he meant by that because later, she would think about it more. "Don't make me throw these things at you," she said calmly.

Their eyes locked as she took a step closer to bring the items closer to him. He stared at them for a while, remembering how they filled with tears as she ran away from him.

She took another step closer when he didn't respond at all. They were just a couple feet away. Knowing he wouldn't actually reach out his hands to take the tulip, locket, and letter, she made it so the locket was the only thing in her right hand and placed it into his hand at his side, making it hang on his fingers. She then placed the tulip in his hand. Her fingers tingled as she made contact with him.

Draco was frozen in place while she was placing the objects in his hand. He couldn't seem to make a move as he was then reminded of the time when she tied the bracelet around his wrist on his tenth birthday. She was so careful as she did so, like she was now.

Hermione still had the envelope in her hand. It was the letter that took her breath away whenever she read it. It could probably become the death of her if she read it over and over again.

"And here," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she knew how close they were. She was holding out the letter. It was almost in his face.

He took it from her hand slowly and put the items in his other hand in his pocket. He then took the letter out of the envelope and started reading it. Funny how he was reading it right in front of her.

"September nineteenth," he said quietly. It was as if he was saying it to himself. "Seven days after my birthday." He stopped just right after reading the date. "Nineteen-ninety, when you turned ten, your favorite number… because it's the first double-digit one."

Hermione looked up at him in awe. "Y-you still remember," she stammered.

"You'd be surprised at what I still remember, Granger."

"How do you remember so much?"

"Because I didn't _try_ to forget about it. It just slowly went to the back of my brain for a while." He folded the letter back into the envelope.

"But why? You hated me—"

"Stop saying that," he snapped.

"You know, nothing you've said has answered my main question. Why do you still have the bracelet on?" she asked again, taking a step back, and putting on a determined expression.

"Pass," he said with a smirk.

- x -

**A/N: Thanks for reading! (: Please review.**


	6. Memory Potion

_Chapter 5  
Memory Potion_

When patrols ended, Draco and Hermione went their separate ways to their common rooms. Hermione was feeling discontent, not getting the information she wanted from him, while Draco was thinking about the items she had just given him.

Draco entered the empty Slytherin Common Room and sat at the couch by the fireplace. It was late, so no one would be going down from their dormitories to the common room. Knowing that it was safe, he took out the tulip, locket, and letter. He set them all out on the table in front of him. For a while, he just stared at the items, not knowing exactly what he was going to do with them. The fire was burning with delight, casting out warmth around the cold common room.

He slowly stretched out his hand to the letter and opened it up again to read what he had written to her that day. He was shocked at how much he cared about her. He remembered writing this letter until midnight, making several drafts before this one, and how distracted he was, thinking about how he had just lost his best friend.

As he relived those memories for the umpteenth time, he felt wetness in the back of his eyes. He blinked them away and almost felt ashamed of himself. His father always told him that Malfoy's didn't cry, and every time he would when he was younger, he would get hit. What would his father think if he figured out that he almost cried because of a mudblood? Even though he was in Azkaban and couldn't do anything about it, Draco didn't want to know that his father would be even more ashamed of him. When he was younger, he never fancied disappointing his father. And he still didn't. His father wasn't _always_ evil.

His mind wandered farther and farther into his childhood. It went as far as when they were four-years-old.

_The young Draco Malfoy walked into the colourful classroom, his mum holding his hand. He looked around nervously at all the kids in the room, all eyes on him as he was the last one to enter. The teacher, Miss Reed, welcomed him into preschool and talked to his mum for a bit about how wonderful the atmosphere was and such. When his mother let go of his hand, he started to fiddle with his fingers uncomfortably. After a few short moments, his mum kissed him goodbye and told him that she was going to be back at two o'clock. Miss Reed put her hands on Draco's shoulders and introduced him to the all the children staring at him._

_"Class, this is Draco. Say hi, and let him feel welcome," she said cheerily with a big smile plastered on her face._

_"Hi, Draco!" the whole class screamed loudly, waving at him enthusiastically._

_"Hi," he said shyly, looking up at the class._

_"Now, Draco, go on and play with all the kids. They'll share their toys with you," Miss Reed said kindly._

_Draco nodded. The teacher walked away from him to go to her desk and do some paperwork. He just stood there for a while, looking at all the children talking and laughing and playing with toys. After a couple minutes of just standing there and walking around stupidly, a boy came up to him and asked him if he wanted to play the red fire truck in the city his friends were making. He smiled widely and went over to play._

_As the clock reached closer and closer to two o'clock, he realized that he made a lot of new friends. He felt confident to go up to people and start talking to them. He met almost everyone in the whole class already. A lot of girls would make it really obvious that they fancied him, considering many of them would cling onto his arm at random times. He would tell them that he was doing something that he needed his arm for and they would simply let go of him and watch him do whatever he was doing._

_While he was lying stomach-down on the floor with a group of boys colouring, he heard two snobbish girls talking to a frizzy-haired girl the corner by the bookshelf right behind him._

_"My mommy says that I shouldn't talk to girls with ugly hair," one of the girls he knew to be Jeanine said to her. The two girls laughed._

_"And you should stop showing your teeth. I think beavers are getting jealous," the other girl, Raleigh, said. They laughed._

_Draco stood up from the floor and walked over to them. "Why are you so mean to her?" he asked them._

_"Because she's ugly and she shouldn't be in our class," Jeanine said as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Draco hated her for the way she talked._

_"I wouldn't be talking," Draco said._

_"What is that supposed to mean?"_

_"You look like a clown in all that make-up. At least _she_ doesn't need make-up to look pretty," he told her, pointing at the brown-haired girl. Her mouth was slowly turning into a smile._

_"_Hermione_? You think _she's_ pretty? Then _I_ must be beautiful," Raleigh said, flipping her dirty-blond hair over her shoulder._

_"Stop making yourself feel better, Raleigh," Hermione then said. Draco's head turned around to look at her. He's never heard her voice yet. "You're always making fun of my teeth? At least mine aren't _crooked_."_

_"They are _not_ crooked!" she yelled._

_"Oh, really?" the clever girl said with a smile on her face as she took a step closer to Raleigh. "Then why aren't they straight?" Draco chuckled next to her._

_"Now _you're_ just making yourself feel better by saying her teeth are crooked," Jeanine said._

_"Please, do you guys even know what crooked _means_?" the blonde boy asked._

_Hermione glanced at him and giggled._

_Jeanine stomped her foot on the ground. "Ugh! You know what, Draco? I don't really think you're all that good-looking either."_

_"That's why you were clinging onto my arm for an hour."_

_"UGH!" she groaned again with another stomp. "Come on, let's go, Raleigh."_

_After exchanging glares, the two girls walked off, arms entwined._

_Draco turned to Hermione when he heard her laugh. It was probably the most adorable laugh he's ever heard._

_"Thanks for that," she said to him._

_"No problem," he said, suddenly turning shy._

_"Draco, right?" she asked. He nodded. "Yeah, you're the new guy. Well, I'm Hermione, if you haven't already figured that out."_

_"Nice to meet you," he said._

_She giggled at his politeness. "Nice to meet you, too." When he didn't say anything after that, she talked again. "Jeanine and Raleigh have been making fun of me since the beginning of the year. I'm sort of new here also."_

_"They're really mean. So your teeth are kind of big and your hair is kind of frizzy—"_

_"You better be going somewhere with that," she interrupted._

_"Oh, just let me finish," he snapped jokingly. She laughed again. "Well, I still think you're prettier than both of those girls put together."_

_Hermione smiled and her face turned a dark shade of pink. She looked at him for a moment and said, "Thanks."_

_"Come on, let's go colour," Draco said, grabbing her arm and taking her to the table with the crayons._

_Out of all the friends he made that day, he liked Hermione the best._

"What's that?" a familiar voice said, snapping him out of his flashback.

His head whipped around to Blaise, surprised at the sudden voice in the room. Draco saw that his friend was looking down at the letter in his hands and he quickly folded it and tried stuffing everything in his pocket before Blaise said anything more.

"Wait, wait… is that--?" he said, pointing at the tulip on the table. "And is that --?" This time, he pointed at the locket. "Whoa, wait. What the hell?"

Draco put everything in his pocket normally. There was no point in doing it quickly since Blaise already caught him.

"Those look horribly familiar," Blaise said, sitting down in the armchair next to him.

Maybe he didn't remember the items at all. Maybe Blaise would just let it pass and let him not talk about it at all. Draco crossed his fingers.

"Those? Oh… those are… nothing," the blonde said with much hesitation.

"They don't look like nothing."

Draco looked into the fire, not saying anything. Blaise will probably figure it out soon. He prepared himself for some explaining he would have to do soon. He wasn't really looking forward to it. Then, Blaise snapped his fingers knowingly.

"Bloody hell! Those are the things you gave to her!" he yelled.

"Lower your voice. It's almost midnight," Draco said in response.

"Hold on, hold on… then is that _thing_ on your wrist the bracelet the mudblood gave you?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah," he answered after a few seconds of silence. He was still looking in the fire.

"Why, young Draco, you have some explaining to do, little boy," Blaise said with a grin.

Draco glared at him and then looked back at the fire. "I'd rather not."

"I'd rather you do."

What was the point of trying to get away with it anyway? All Blaise would do is constantly bug him about it until he told him.

"Granger gave the things I left with her that day back to me," he said after some hesitation.

"Oh, yeah," Blaise said with a laugh. "I remember that day. Mudbloods are so gullible."

"In case you don't remember, I was miserable that day, so I wouldn't joke about it," Draco said dangerously.

Blaise put his hands up in surrender, chuckling quietly as he did so. "Sorry," he said sarcastically. "So, have you gone tumbling through the long-hidden, horrible childhood of yours and that mudblood's?"

His humor may take some getting used to.

"Hundreds of times already," the blonde said.

"Hundreds? Now, that can't be right. Shouldn't it be around the infinities by now? I mean, you've had that bracelet on for... how long? Six or seven years?" he asked. "Can't believe I've never noticed it through the school years before."

"That's because I've only discovered that it was still on my wrist since the train ride. I made it so that it was invisible years ago."

"Why didn't you just take off the thing?"

"I promised I wouldn't," Draco answered simply.

"Wow, I never knew _you_ kept promises! You learn a new thing everyday, I suppose," he said. "I don't know how you can bear having something that mudblood made on you every sodding day. Why do you still have that thing on?"

"What a question, Blaise," he said, boredom etched in his voice.

"Since it's such a great question, wanna answer it?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Why, do you _want_ me to think of the mudblood more?" Draco asked.

Blaise sighed. "I'll get the answer out of you some other day. Now on to my next question..." he said while getting himself comfortable on the armchair and putting his feet up on the coffee table. "What was that piece of parchment you were reading when I barged into your flashbacks?"

"The parchment? That was just the schedule for patrols," he lied quickly.

"Ha! Like you would stare at a _schedule_ for that long," Blaise said with a laugh.

Draco gave in. "Yeah, so it wasn't a schedule," he said lamely. Blaise gave him a face that told him to expand more on the subject. "It was a... letter."

"From who?" he asked.

"Me," he said simply.

"To who?"

"Fancy to venture a guess?" Draco said, looking at him with a face that told the other boy that it should be obvious.

A couple seconds passed before he answered. "Since when did you a write a _letter_ to the mudblood?"

Draco never told him about how he flew up to her window in the middle of the night. He would have held it against him for years. "Seven years ago."

"Wow, you never told me this before. Looks like you have some more explaining to do, you ex-best friend of a mudblood," he said with a smirk. That was an expression he picked up from Draco.

"I'm too tired, it's late, let's go to bed. What are you doing up anyway?" the blonde asked.

"Goyle was snoring unbelievably loud again. It's a wonder how everyone else can stay awake," he said. "But _you_ shall tell me what on earth happened tomorrow, because I'm definitely curious." He yawned.

"Go to bed, you little baby," Draco said. He just wanted him out of the room to avoid talking about her.

"Fine, then," he said as if he was offended. He was smirking, so he was only joking. Blaise got up from his seat and went to the boys' dormitory.

When he was gone, Draco took out the silver locket from his pocket and pushed the little latch so that the heart would open. The picture he saw before his eyes sent him back into the past for the umpteenth time. After a couple minutes, he sighed frustratedly, closing the heart, and shoved it hastily back into his pocket.

All he seemed to think about these days was _her_.

- x -

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were eating breakfast at the Great Hall the upcoming Friday morning. They had joined Dean, Seamus, Neville, Lavender, and Parvati. All the boys looked absolutely _dead_, for they were playing a long game of Exploding Snap yesterday. The girls exchanged looks with each other and laughed out loud at the same time. The boys looked up from their plates, eyes drooped, at the rest of the girls.

"What?" Harry asked, yawning afterward.

"You all look completely _drunk_!" Parvati said, pointing at Seamus, who probably had the funniest expression on his face.

Everyone looked over at him and started laughing as well. People looked over at them, wondering what was going on.

"Shut up, you gitfaces," Dean said to them with a tired smile as he lazily took a bite of his toast.

They all got into a fit of laughter again when Ron used a fork to get what was supposed to be a _spoon_ful of hot chocolate.

"Oh, shove off," he grunted at them, which just made them laugh more.

When the laughing finally died down, Harry spoke up. "Hey, Hermione, your birthday's coming soon, isn't it?"

Hermione nodded towards him. "Yes. It's in seven days," she said. Something about her words triggered some kind of reminder in her mind. She didn't know what it was for, however.

"Otherwise known as a week?" Ron said. A few people chuckled.

"Oh, whatever, Ron," she said jokingly.

"Well, do you know when the next Hogsmeade trip is, Hermione? Because I'm pretty sure all of us haven't found the time to buy you presents and such. The last Hogsmeade trip was two weeks ago," Dean said.

"Oh, actually, the next Hogsmeade trip is tomorrow, then there's another one next Thursday, since classes end early that day. Then, there's another one the _next_ week on Saturday," Hermione explained to them. All their eyes widened at how many Hogsmeade trips there would be in the next two weeks.

"We _never_ had Hogsmeade trips that often before!" Neville said.

"Right. The Heads schedule the trips, so we asked Professor McGonagall if we could have them almost every week, if there weren't exams. She said yes, so we did," Hermione told them, sounding rather pleased.

"Ugh, it's amazing how much you have to work with Malfoy," Lavender said.

_Malfoy_. Something about him triggered something in Hermione's head again.

"I guess I'm getting used to his git-ness," she said with a shrug.

They haven't have been bickering much lately. He seemed a lot more different since Monday, when she gave him the items back. His behavior caused her to think more than she had to again. She found herself looking closely at his behavior whenever they worked together. She examined that his expression resembled one that was deep in thought all the time, sometimes he would totally space out while she was saying something, and whenever they _would_ argue, he would end it after a small amount of time. His comebacks to her were short, and not as well-planned out as they used to be. It was as if he was tired of making fun of her, which in the past would be impossible. The oddest thing she analyzed was, at times, how he would look -- just _look_ -- at her for a while, and then look away with an unreadable expression on his face.

The Great Hall started emptying, so the group of Gryffindors stood up, too. They bid each other goodbye as they parted ways to go to their classes. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had Double Potions first today, so they walked together to the Dungeons. The three of them started talking about how great it was that Hogsmeade trips would take place a lot more often. Hermione smiled at how happy they were about her being Head Girl and making it so.

They got to Snape's classroom a good five minutes before class started and took their seats at one of the long tables toward the back of the room. As Harry and Ron started up a conversation about Quidditch, Hermione got a piece of parchment for notes, a quill, and a bottle of ink, and placed them next to her cauldron, ready for class. She dated her paper on the top right corner and wrote her name. Hermione looked up at the class and saw that probably everyone was there. Including Draco, Blaise, and Pansy, who were sitting at the very back of the classroom, two tables back.

Snape strutted into the room, his black robe billowing behind him, and his face menacing, as usual. He flicked his wand toward the blank chalkboard at the front of the classroom. Words appeared on it, on the top saying _Memory Potion_.

"As you see on the board -- Potter, five points from Gryffindor for doodling," Snape said, walking over to where Harry was sitting and snatching the parchment in front of him away.

"I was writing down what was on the board," he protested.

"Five more for talking back," the professor said, turning away from him and walking back to the front.

Harry clenched his teeth to prevent himself from saying more.

"As I was saying, on the board, you can see that we will be brewing Memory Potions today. You will be working with assigned partners, carefully following the instructions on the board," Snape explained as he conjured a piece of parchment to his hands. "Bulstrode and Weasley, Greengrass and Potter, Granger and Zabini, Malfoy and Parkinson, Travis and Nott..."

Everyone in the classroom moved to their designated partners when they were called. Harry, Ron, and Hermione bid each other good luck as they separated. Hermione knew that she was definitely going to need it, since she was going to the table Blaise, Draco, _and_ Pansy would be at. As she went to sit in the empty seat between Blaise and Draco(much to her discomfort), she saw that Pansy had her arms crossed over her chest.

"You're not gonna do any work, are you?" Draco asked the pouting girl through clenched teeth.

"Not when working with you," she replied to him.

Blaise let out a snort next to Hermione.

"Shut the hell up, Blaise," Draco snapped at him as he got up to get the required ingredients.

"So, mudblood," he started, ignoring what the blonde said to him, "how about you do everything and I supervise?"

"How about you go get the ingredients and I get everything here ready?" Hermione suggested smartly.

"No, that's more work for me," he disagreed. "You just have to light the bloody fire under the cauldron."

Hermione cast the required spell, and the fire lit up, heating the cauldron from the bottom. "My part is done," she said bluntly.

"I'm not getting up."

"Your house isn't going to win the House Cup either from the amount of points I'm thinking of taking away," she said.

He groaned and got up to get the ingredients just as Draco came back with his. Pansy looked at them.

"What, are we putting a _bird_ in our potion?" she asked, looking at one of the ingredients.

"They're Jobberknoll feathers, you twit," Draco said to her.

"Ugh, why do ingredients to potions have to be so disgusting? Can't they be pretty, like flowers or something?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at Pansy's comment and started copying down the steps to making the potion onto her parchment. It'll be easier to just look back and forth at the parchment, instead of looking at the board. Plus, she needed something to take up her time since Blaise was taking an abnormally long amount of time.

After another long minute, Blaise finally came back with all the ingredients.

"Stupid Weasley couldn't make up his bloody mind on how many of the feather things to take," he muttered as he dropped them all on the table.

Hermione started following the instructions she wrote down, telling Blaise to do things, too. He would groan and do what he was told.

"Stir it clockwise," Hermione told him, after she stirred it clockwise for what seemed like eternity.

"My _god_, Granger," he complained as he started stirring. "Draco, how the _hell_ do you work with her almost everyday?"

"I have no idea," he replied plainly as he added another ingredient to his potion.

"What happened to you two anyway?" Blaise asked. Both Draco and Hermione looked at him, confused. When he saw them looking at him, he explained further. "Not about what happened with your little child--"

Hermione hit him almost automatically as Draco coughed loudly and glared at him.

Blaise laughed. "That was hilarious," he said. "I meant that you two used to bicker like your lives depended on it. You guys were so much more fun to watch then."

"I don't know, but Malfoy hasn't been insulting me much lately, which causes us not to bicker," Hermione said.

Blaise snapped his fingers. "Since Monday, yeah?" he asked her. Hermione nodded. "Well, well, well."

"Don't even start," Draco warned, pointing a finger at him.

"Now, don't you point your pale little finger at me, Mister Malfoy. Flowers and jewelry affecting you much, Draco?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Not at all," Draco lied as he started stirring the potion.

Hermione picked up a textbook and opened it up to see what they would be learning tomorrow. She didn't want to listen to their conversation anymore, but couldn't find herself to stop listening. "I think it is. And something to do with a certain bracelet, too, eh?" Blaise added, making Draco clench his teeth harder and harder. "Ha! And it's your birthday today, also. So, exactly seven years of having that thing on!"

Something clicked in Hermione's head when she heard that it was his birthday. Her head whipped around to face Draco, who was glaring past her at a smirking Blaise.

"Ahh, looks like Granger has just found out it's your birthday. I'm surprised that she didn't already know. I remember when we were... ten-years-old, right? When you told me that you fancied her. _Ha_! What a laugh."

At that moment, many things happened: Hermione froze, her heavy textbook dropped to the floor in an extremely loud _thud_, she gasped, Draco hit his friend on the back of the head with a Potions textbook(in which he earned a loud, "What the _hell_?" from the victim), Pansy shrieked from a broken nail, everyone turned around in their seats to see who just shrieked, and Blaise was laughing hysterically at all the commotion his words caused.

"Oh, what a 'Remember When,'" he laughed.

"Get back to work, class," the scary voice of the Professor said from the front of the classroom. Everyone turned in their seats and continued working in fear that Snape may take away house points.

Hermione's mind was racing. He had fancied her. Merlin, he had _fancied_ her. How could she had _missed_ that? He'd done so many things that she overlooked that showed he had some kind of feelings for her. Just the scrapbook, locket, and tulip should have given her a colossal hint! _Four_ weeks making a scrapbook for her birthday, a _heart-shaped_ locket, her favorite kind of flower that would never die, and the words he said in the letter. God, she was so _dimwitted_!

She tried thinking harder at what other things she remembered that he had done in which he showed that he had fancied her. She couldn't think of anything. It was frustrating her.

"Stop gaping, Granger. That's even worse than the looks you send at my wrist." It was the first thing he said directly to her that day.

Hermione closed her mouth and glared at Draco. "_That_ may have been something to tell me!" she said angrily. She could see his teeth clench. He didn't like it when she yelled at him. "It clears some things up a little."

"Yeah? What questions of yours has it answered?" he asked, knowing the answer.

Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, thinking of any questions it may have answered. She sighed in defeat. "It's good to know," she finally said.

"I didn't think the little fact would be so bloody important now," he muttered.

"_Not_ important? It's anything but!"

"My god, Granger. That was _years_ ago. It's not like I feel the same now."

"Clearly," Hermione said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hey, mudblood, I think the potion's done. Test it and see if it works. I'm definitely not going to drink anything with some dirty Jobberknoll feathers," Blaise told her.

"You baby," Hermione mumbled to him.

"Funny. Draco calls me that, too," he said with a smirk.

"Yes, how funny," she said, sarcasm etched in her voice.

She checked the piece of parchment and when she realized he was right, she poured herself a small cup of it. She drank it in two gulps. Nothing happened to her for so long that she was jumping to the conclusion that their potion wasn't made right. Just when she was about to panic, without warning, memories of her childhood and more came into her head. Hermione suddenly remembered everything: when they first met, every detail about her tenth birthday, each and every picture in the scrapbook, when she made the bracelet... everything. Her mind flashed through memories she didn't want to remember again. The war, all the blood, so many people dying...

Her mind went to preschool.

_"Yeah, you're the new guy. Well, I'm Hermione, if you haven't already figured that out."_

She remembered what he said to make her blush.

_"Well, I still think you're prettier than both of those girls put together."_

Then, her tenth birthday.

"_I'm telling the truth. He made all that stuff to let you remember him all through the years after he's moved, while he forgets all about you. He's a very good actor, you know."_

The horrible words she said to him.

"_I hate you, Malfoy. I hate you!"_

Hugging and thanking him for the scrapbook.

Notes they would pass in school.

Kissing him on the cheek that one day when they were eight-years-old and he had given her a little bouquet of dandelions.

A funny inside joke he whispered in her ear.

Going to school together.

How car rides were more fun with him.

How many books she borrowed from the school library after he left.

Seeing him on that first day at Hogwarts.

Waiting all year for him to do something.

Crying one night that year when she realized how much she missed him.

Confused when he called her a mudblood in second year.

Starting to hate him when all he did was insult her.

Insulting him back.

When she returned to reality, the first person she saw was Draco, who was watching her closely, then she saw Blaise, who looked bored with the whole thing, and Pansy, who was studying her nails.

"Oh, my god," Hermione said, releasing the breath she didn't know she's been holding.

"Well, not the first time I saw _that_ look," Blaise said after a few seconds, glancing at Draco. Hermione looked at him, confused. "He was going through his flashbacks before, too. Seems like he is all the time now."

"Shut the _hell_ up," Draco told him again.

"Oh, by the way, mudblood--"

"Stop calling me mudblood," Hermione snapped at him as she sat back in her seat, staring at a certain spot on the table. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she was in a different world.

It was amazing how she could remember _everything_ now. She saw the words he had written on the white scrapbook. If anyone else was to read it, they wouldn't believe it was _him_ who wrote it. It's absolutely unbelievable how sweet he was back then.

Then, she remembered the last couple sentences he wrote on the scrapbook.

"_Remember, my favorite number is seventeen. That gives you seven years to make something for me_," she said out loud, her voice just above a whisper. Draco heard her loud and clear, but couldn't believe it.

"Well, that didn't happen now, did it?" he asked.

She snorted. "Why? Were you expecting something?"

"Not at all," he said in a way in which she knew he was telling the truth.

Hermione turned her head to him again and found his eyes. She looked away quickly after that.

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it just came back.

"Each group, make sure your potion is effective, put it in a vial with your names, and turn it in. Class dismissed," Snape said. Everyone hurriedly started pouring a small amount of the potion into a tiny vial and putting their names on it.

When Blaise and Hermione were done, Hermione took it to Snape and went back to the table to gather her things. Draco was doing the same thing. Blaise and Pansy had already left.

Hermione slung her knapsack over her shoulder. Before exiting the classroom and catching up to Harry and Ron, who were at the door waiting for her, Draco called for her.

"Granger," he said.

She turned around. Harry and Ron each looked at him in an if-you-do-or-say-anything-to-her-I-will-hex-you-into-oblivion way. Draco held up her textbook that she had dropped on the floor. Hermione walked over to him, hastily grabbing it out of his hand. She turned back around and started walking to her friends.

"Have fun remembering _every_thing," he said to her retreating back. Hermione could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Oh, cast a look at your wrist," she fired back. "I know you remember every time you look at it."

His teeth clenched. "I hope you suffer," he said icily. "'Cause I sure will."

- x -

**A/N: For any of you who don't remember where that **_**'Cause I sure will'**_** came from, it was from the Prologue, when Hermione stuck those papers on her window. It was a slow update, but I hope the longer-than-usual chapter will make up for it. ;) Now… review?**

Bottom of Form


	7. Surprise

_Chapter 6  
__Surprise_

Ultimately, what Draco said was true. She most certainly _did_ suffer. Through the rest of their classes, all she seemed to think about was the past. The past that she went on for so long forgetting. Teachers would call on her and she would find that she, for once, did _not_ have the answer. Quite a few gasps were heard that day of classes that annoyed Hermione even further. She sometimes hated being known as The Girl Who Answers Every Single _Sodding_ Question the Teacher Asks. It irked and bothered her so much that she didn't want anything more than to rip her frizzy hair out of her head, throw it in a certain boy's face, make him choke on it, and hope he died.

That almost made her laugh out loud. Which would have been completely out of line, considering the whole Transfiguration classroom was silent, answering questions from the textbook on a piece of parchment, and she would have sounded like a woman gone mad. Which was probably true. In fact, she was supposed to be writing responses to the questions in textbook right now, just like everyone else, but she couldn't find herself to focus.

So, this is what Hermione Granger was doing now: holding her quill above an empty piece of parchment, as if she was about to write something, and reading the same question over and over again. She couldn't clear her mind enough to understand what the book was asking her.

"Hermione," Ron, who was sitting next to her whispered. She looked over at him. "are you all right?"

Uh-oh. Did she really look as sick as she felt? "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" she whispered back to him.

"Well, Professor McGonagall gave us an assignment fifteen minutes ago and you haven't even written anything down," he observed, reminding Hermione of his little sister.

"I don't understand itn is all. I'll get it in a bit," Hermione reassured him.

He still looked worried. "If you can't answer question number one, you are _definitely_ not Hermione Granger. It's from second year."

Hermione looked back at the textbook to see what the first question read.

_What must you do in order to transfigure a common household animal into a water goblet?_

God, it took forever for her to finally understand that question. She quickly scribbled the answer down in her neat handwriting on the parchment before she could think about anything else to make her forget.

Ron sighed in relief. "You scared me there."

Hermione didn't hear him. She was too busy writing as fast as she could. It was like a race: she had to finish the assignment before a certain boy came into her head again. She was on a roll. Question ten done. Five more to answer. It was question eleven that made her lose her train of thought.

_State the words you must say to transfigure a piece of furniture into a book._

Just the simple word of _book_. Why does that remind her of him? Because the word _book_ is in _scrap_book.

_"I hope you suffer. 'Cause I sure will." _

_Malfoy's a bastard,_ she thought.

- x -

That day at dinner, Hermione was still distracted and lost in thought. Still _suffering_, for lack of a better word. Harry, Ron, and Ginny had just asked her what was wrong with her today. Ron brought up the time in Transfiguration, which caused Harry to start asking more questions. Ginny waited calmly, knowing that asking Hermione one question at a time was the thing to do at this time. Hermione told them that the Memory Potion she had to test in Potions made her remember things she didn't want to bring to mind. Which was actually very true. She just didn't say _what_ she remembered. Ginny must have figured it out, though. They nodded and told her it was all in the past and she shouldn't dwell on it.

"Hermione," Ginny called, nodding towards the first or second year standing behind her with an envelope in his hand.

She turned around, smiled at the boy, and took the letter, saying, "Thank you." Hermione was confused. She noticed that her name was written across the front of it in what she recognized as her mum's handwriting. Knowing that this must be important, she opened up the letter, Harry, Ron, and Ginny waiting for her to finish.

_Hermione, _

_I don't really know how I should begin this letter, for I never had to write to you about something as important as this. I guess I should just go straight into it, but I have to ask you not to come back home. Please, __promise__ me you will stay in school. Oh, I must be worrying you, so let me get it out. _

_Your father is sick. And it's not 'sick' as in a cold or a fever. _

_A couple days ago, I came back home from work and barely said hello to him before he told me that he didn't feel all right and started to fall. I ran to him before he could hit the floor. I lied him down on the couch and went to call the ambulance. They came within just a few minutes, though it felt like ages. By then, I was already crying. _

_I rode in the ambulance with him and went to the hospital. They made me wait in the waiting room. Oh, it was dreadful. I wanted to be there with him to hold his hand while they ran tests on him, but that couldn't be done. A half an hour later, a nurse with a clipboard came into the room and called for my name. She told me -- oh, she was incredibly kind and nice about it -- that... oh, this is hard to write... Sweetie, Dad has leukemia. _

_He's fine now, awake, but still in the hospital. He's doing great. The doctors said that he'll be out in a couple of days. _

_I needed to tell you as soon as I could. I couldn't bear hiding it from you. But, honey, everything is fine, I assure you. Dad will be fine. _

_I love you, sweetie. Do good in school, and please don't let this letter bring you down. _

_Lots of love,  
__Mum_

Hermione looked up from the letter. Harry, Ron, and Ginny looked at her with concerned faces and wonderment. She might as well just tell them.

"My dad has cancer," she said lowly.

"Oh, my God," Harry breathed, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What'd the letter say, Hermione?" Ginny asked softly.

Hermione was looking at her blurry reflection in her water goblet, sinking everything all in. Quite a few seconds passed before she answered. "My mum told me that he was fine. He's still in the hospital, awake, and everything, and she told me not to come back home to see him," she explained. "But I have to see him. I _have_ to. I mean, you never know with cancer... he can just..."

"Don't you dare think like that, Hermione Granger," Ginny told her firmly. "Your mum said that he was absolutely fine, didn't she?" Hermione nodded.

"Then, everything's fine," Ron told her. "Just listen to what your mum told you."

"But I _have_ to go..." she said desperately.

"No, Hermione. I'm sure your dad would want you to stay in school also," Harry said.

"He was probably the one who told your mum to tell you to stay in school," Ginny added.

"Thanks," Hermione said with a sad smile, "but I think I should be alone for a while. I'll see you at patrols, Ginny."

She pushed her plate away, got up from her seat with the letter, and started towards the doors of the Great Hall in a fast stride. It wasn't until she entered the library and went to the most secluded section of it that she leaned on a bookshelf, slid down to the floor, and cried.

- x -

_Everything is fine. Dad will be fine._

This is what Hermione kept on telling herself over and over again as she made her way to the second corridor for patrols. Her eyes were just slightly puffy, for she was crying on and off as she read _Hogwarts: A History_ to calm her down. It was like what happened in Transfiguration. She would be doing fine, then when she came across the littlest word that reminded her of her father, she got distracted.

But the thing that was really weird about her right now was that she was late. Yes, Hermione Granger was _late_. What a day. First, she doesn't know an answer to a question a teacher asks, and now, she's _late_ for patrols! And, what's worse? She's _twenty_ minutes late, which means that everyone was actually patrolling now. Good thing she made two copies of the schedule, or Draco would have been screwed while he stood at the front of the meeting room stupidly, while waiting for her to come.

She entered the second corridor and saw him, just a few steps away. He looked in her direction at the sudden noise and glared. She should have brought ear plugs.

"What the _hell_, Granger," he spat. "Where the _fuck_ were you?"

"I lost track of time," she said, not looking at him. She didn't want him to see her puffy eyes and figure out that she'd been crying.

"You know how _humiliating_ it was for me to be there in the meeting room? When I saw that it was eight o'clock and you weren't there, I started looking for my schedule in my robes, then figured out that I _didn't_ have it. So, I had to _leave_ them there for a while, as I went to my dormitory and got the schedule. People were looking and asking for you... and telling me how I should be more _bloody_ responsible--"

"Well, you _should_ be more responsible!" Hermione yelled. She could see his jaw clench. "You should know that you should have the schedule for patrols everyday with you! That's why I made two copies. For a situation such as this!"

"_Shit_, Granger. _Please_ don't lecture me like some adult," he said. "Just don't be late again."

"You're one to talk. You've been late five times to patrols since the year's started. One day, you didn't even come at _all_!" she yelled. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but she interrupted him. "Why? Because you fell _asleep_."

"It was a tiring day that day," he said. "And you? Why were you so sodding late today?"

"I told you," she said through her teeth. "I lost track of time."

"Oh, that's _so_ much better of an excuse than mine," he said sarcastically. "Why the _hell_ were you late?"

Hermione could feel it. She could feel the wetness in the back of her eyes. She tried blinking it away, or not thinking about it, but they just got nearer and nearer to the front of her eyes. Her vision blurred just slightly. Feeling this, Hermione started walking down the corridor. Draco walked so that he was slightly behind her, which is what she wanted. He could _not_ see her welling up. This wetness in her eyes would dry up any second now, she just couldn't be reminded of it. All Draco had to do was just be _quiet_ for once--

"Fuck, Granger. Are you going to _answer_? Why?" he asked, completely annoyed by the way she was acting.

She stayed silent, staring ahead at the wall on the other side. Just focus on the wall, and nothing else, and the wetness will dry up. If he would just _shut up_...

"_Granger_, what the bloody hell is wrong with you? Are you _deaf_ or something?"

Hermione couldn't take his yelling anymore. She turned around, aware of the fact that her eyes were shiny.

"Shut _up_, Malfoy! Please. For _once_ in your _sodding_ life, can you think about someone other than yourself and shut _up_?" Hermione practically screamed. She felt the tears make their way out of her eyes and walked to her left to the nearest wall.

"Shit," he muttered, knowing that he must have taken it too far. He could have sworn he saw her eyes were a little puffy when she came. She had been crying before, and he just caused her to cry again. What the hell was _wrong_ with him?

Oh, God. Did he feel guilty? Please, oh, please say that he did _not_ feel _guilty_ for making Hermione Granger, a girl he doesn't give a sodding _shit_ about, cry.

"My dad is _sick_, Malfoy," she said after a while. She had calmed down, took deep breaths, and only got out with a few tears that he didn't see. "I got a letter from my mum, saying that my dad went to the hospital. I was reading to block it out..." As she said that, she realized that she had done the same thing when Draco moved seven years ago. She read to get her mind off of it. "... and I lost track of time. _Happy_?"

_No, I feel _guilty_. How can I possibly be happy?_ he wanted to say. Instead, he didn't say anything and just stayed silent.

"I can't believe I'm stuck with _you_ for another two hours," Hermione mumbled with a sigh, putting her back against the wall and sliding down to the cold floor. She put her arms on her knees and her forehead on her arms. She could so easily fall asleep, but knew she couldn't do that.

There was an extremely long, comfortable silence as Draco paced around, not really sure what to do. Hermione sat down, changing her position by propping her arm up, balancing her elbow on her knee, and putting her chin on her hand. She looked at a spot on the floor, her eyes unfocused and elsewhere.

Draco was leaning against the wall opposite Hermione, just looking at her. He quite liked her in that stance. It would make a good picture. He could imagine it in some teen Wizarding magazine with a 'Q&A' with the famous witch. He could see it now: _Hermione Granger, Sidekick of Harry Potter: Answers Unveiled (__**EXCULSIVE**__! Interview only found here!)_

She actually looked fairly attractive right now.

He quickly looked away from her and mentally slapped himself. What was he just _thinking_?

Hermione knew he was looking at her from the corner of her eye. He seemed to do that a lot lately. It didn't really bother her much. She was pretty much used to it now. Since her mind was already on Draco, it went back to their childhood. _Again_. She was sick and _tired_ of thinking about him, but couldn't seem to get him out of her head. The words he said to her at the end of Potions bothered her to no end.

_"I hope you suffer. 'Cause I sure will."_

Okay, so apparently, he _suffers_. Why would he suffer, though? She didn't mean anything to him(if they were arguing about this very topic, he would snap at her saying that wasn't true), so why would he even care at all? If anything, he should be rejoicing and smirking at the fact that he got a girl who thought about him all the time. But he wasn't. Which was odd. And made her think more.

"So," Hermione said suddenly. Draco quickly looked at her, surprised at the sudden voice. "Suffer?"

"Every time I look at it," he said.

"You _can_ take the thing off, you know," she muttered.

"Can't."

"And why is that?"

"Pass."

"Git."

"Wench."

"Okay, seriously, Malfoy," she said, getting up from the position that Draco found so attractive and walking towards the opposite wall, where he was. "Why won't you just answer the question?"

"I don't know the answer," he half-lied.

"Yes, you do," she disagreed. "Why do you still have it on?"

"I don't _know_, Granger. Shut up. I liked it better when it was silent."

"I would _love_ it if you answered the question," she said.

"Damn, Granger. Stop being determined. It bothers me."

"What's wrong with being determined?"

"Well, for one, it annoys the _hell_ out of me," he answered.

"You get annoyed just by my presence, so it's not really anything new to me," she said matter-of-factly.

"Shut _up_! It's my birthday. You can at least listen to me for once and give me _silence_."

"If I'm going to give you silence for your birthday, you're going to have to give me the answer to that question for mine," Hermione said cleverly.

He pursed his lips and thought for a while. "I don't know how I'm supposed to give you the answer if I don't know it myself."

Hermione stared him down for a bit, seeing if he was actually telling the truth. She tried looking in his eyes, but they were completely unreadable. She gave up and leaned on the wall next to him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Patrols are incredibly boring."

"Really, Granger? I didn't know," he said sarcastically.

Hermione turned her head to him and scowled. "You're so unpleasant to be around."

"As are you," he said without looking at her, even though he knew she was looking at him.

There was a long comfortable silence as they both stood there, next to each other, leaning on a wall. Hermione was wondering something about Draco that she's been dying to ask, but didn't know if she should. She went for it.

"I have a question," she said, looking over at him again.

"No surprise there," he said, rolling his eyes, then diverting them to her. "What?"

Hermione looked away from him, doing some last-minute debating in her head of whether she should ask him or not. After a few seconds, she asked, "Why have you been acting so odd lately?"

"Every day is a twenty questions game with you, Granger," he muttered, running a hand through his platinum blonde hair. Hermione waited patiently for him to answer. "And I haven't been acting odd."

She could have laughed out loud to that. "Funny, Malfoy. _Zabini_ noticed, too. Ever since Monday. You _always_ look deep in thought. Obviously the things mean something to you."

"What things? The flower and necklace? I don't even think of _those_ much." He could practically _hear_ Hermione ask her next question even though she stayed silent: _Then what _do_ you think about?_ "And what I think about is none of your bloody business. There's a lot of things on my mind."

"Like what?" she asked before she could run the question through her head first. She knew she sounded very nosy and irksome, but she was curious.

"Shit, Granger. Do you bloody _listen_? I already told you it wasn't any of your business," he snapped.

Hermione knew he was right, so she backed off the subject. "One more question."

"_What_ now?" he said through his teeth. He looked at her, clearly angry and annoyed by her constant question-asking. He liked it better when they insulted each other. At least he had an idea of what she was going to say.

"I swear, are your teeth _fake_ or something? I'm surprised they haven't shattered yet from all the gritting and clenching you do."

"No, they definitely are _not_ fake," he answered with a smirk. "Good to know _that_ was your 'one more question.'"

She furrowed her eyebrows and then opened her mouth to speak. "No, you git!"

"Too late, Granger," he said.

Hermione ignored him and proceeded to her next question. She would know the answer by just looking at his reaction. "Do you still have the scrapbook?"

Draco stiffened at the mention of it and clenched his teeth harder. The answer was already clear to Hermione.

There was an awkward silence when no one said anything. Hermione already knew Draco wasn't going to do any talking any time soon, but she didn't know what to say anymore. She had to say something that would get him worked up, so they could keep talking or bickering. While he fancied the silence, she didn't.

"Well. That's a big book of lies, isn't it?" Hermione decided to say. She walked so that she was a few feet in front of him and casted a look at his wrist. She knew that he saw her do so.

"I bloody _swear_, Granger. If you keep on saying that, I will perform an Unforgivable Curse on you and make _sure_ that no one hears your screams," he said menacingly through his teeth.

"_That's_ a new one. Did you just think of that now, or did you plan it out earlier like you usually do?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I never plan my insults for you ahead of time. They just come out naturally," he said with a smirk. She felt like slapping it off. "It's rather easy to think up insults for _you_."

"Good one," Hermione said, nodding in approval. He was shocked by her reaction. He expected her to go off, go mad, scream, yell... act any other way. "Try thinking up an insult that will actually upset me now."

"Well, I don't really have to do that, do I? I could just mention some other little detail about our childhood and there you go! You're upset."

"Then say something that will throw me off. Do something that I wouldn't expect Draco Malfoy to do," she challenged. "Because I sure am sick and _tired_ of the same, old insults all the time. You can only reuse your snide remarks so many times before they get tiring and boring."

Draco glared at her. "You're pathetic."

"That's it?"

They stayed glaring at each other for quite a while as Draco thought of a long comeback. "What kind of _bitch_ throws something that took a month to make at someone? What kind of gullible _idiot_ would believe what a person told them about someone else and not even let them explain? You were a complete git when you were younger. I was your only friend. I'll _bet_ when I left, you were _alone_. You probably didn't have any other friends to run to. Why? Because you were a bossy, goody-two-shoes, thickheaded _twit_."

"Why'd you fancy me, then?" she asked as if she wasn't affected by what he said at all.

"I'm not answering another one of your _sodding_ questions," he snapped, not wanting to answer that.

"If that was supposed to surprise me, it didn't happen," Hermione said, uncrossing her arms and letting them fall to her sides.

"What about you, then? Why don't _you_ say something, or do something new? Why don't _you_ do something that I wouldn't expect Hermione Granger to do?" he said, mimicking the words she just said to him minutes ago. "Surprise me."

Hermione stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about what she was going to say, to _do_. Something that would totally throw him off, get _him_ thinking about something she did for a change. Something, like he said, that no one would expect her to do.

An idea came and smacked her right in the face.

She walked forward so that they were just centimeters away from each other. His back was already on the wall. They were close enough that Draco could smell the fruity shampoo she used. Whatever it was, it was intoxicating and it made it harder to keep a straight face on. Hermione's heart was racing inside her chest, for she didn't know that being this close to him would put butterflies in her stomach.

Hermione's mind was wild and she couldn't focus enough to keep a perfectly striaght face on. Her face was extremely close to his very pale and perfect one. What girl _would_ be able to focus when Draco Malfoy's face was just centimeters away from hers?

This alone was enough to throw him off and surprise him. Honestly. Can't he just back up her fairly pretty face a little bit? The scent of her shampoo was innerving and stimulating.

"Surprise you?" she whispered, sending a nervous wave through Draco's body.

He just stared at her, dumbfounded, for quite a few seconds before he realized that she just asked him a question. "No."

Draco almost slapped himself when he found himself glancing quickly at her lips. What the _hell_ was she doing to him?

Hermione inched her face even closer to his. Any farther and their lips would touch. The scent of her hair was even stronger. He could barely take it.

"Really?" Hermione asked in another whisper.

Draco's breathing got slightly shorter. "Really," he managed to get out. He took another glance at her lips. _Fuck_.

"Well," she remarked, "that's too bad."

She pulled away and took a step back. Draco was shocked that she drew away. She made him _want_ to kiss her, he was so sure that she _would_. He was almost disappointed. He wanted nothing more than to just pull her to him. _God_, the scent of her shampoo wouldn't get out of his nose.

"Happy birthday, Malfoy," she said.

"Shit, that was no _present_," he said, mad at her again. Mad about the fact that she didn't kiss him.

"Of course it wasn't. Thought it would be good to say. Considering that it _is_ your birthday today," she said smartly.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "_Please_ don't get that bloody close to me ever again."

Hermione smiled at her success. "Why? Afraid that you'll _want_ to kiss me again?"

"I didn't--"

"Don't even try to lie and defend yourself. _You_ should know, better than I do, when someone wants to kiss you." She wanted to rejoice in the fact that he realized that he couldn't say anything to defend himself now.

"_Damn_ you, Granger. Damn you to _hell_."

- x -

**A/N: I'm **_**extremely**_** sorry that my updates are **_**incredibly**_** slow. At least I update, right? Anyway, I quite liked this chapter. Review? (:**


	8. Control

_Chapter 7  
Control_

The next week went by incredibly fast, almost too fast for Hermione, who found herself being drowned in more extra credit work, homework, and Head duties. Draco didn't help much, considering he would usually spend the times when they had to work together alone in the library playing around with his quill. Then, Hermione would scold him and tell him to help her, then he would start to yell, causing her to yell back, bicker shortly, then she would give up and keep working on schedules and such.

The night of his birthday stirred things up inside Draco. He found himself looking at her more, memorizing every single detail about her face. He noticed more things about her. For instance, how her head would pop up slightly when she found the answer to something. Or how her forehead would crease when she was deeply concentrated. He saw that she would bite her bottom lip when she was anxious. He could even tell if she was in a particularly good mood or not by looking at her eyes. They would sparkle when she was happy, but twinkle differently when she was up to something. She would look down a lot when she was unhappy or sad and you could always see the fire in her eyes when she was angry. And he figured out that it was a good idea to back off when her jaw clenched.

Lately, she's been looking down a lot, meaning that she was unhappy. Since his birthday, when she came to patrols late, crying. He couldn't blame her. He remembered her dad being a good guy when he was younger. And the fact that he had cancer. Not even the Wizarding World, who is very advanced in medical purposes, has figured out anything that can help.

Right now, it was her birthday; just became it, actually. It was midnight, patrols were over now, and she was probably sleeping. He put the book that was to be given to her in a plain brown box and put a post-it note on the top left with a small message on it. After putting it in his suitcase so no one would encounter it, he climbed into bed and went into a restless sleep.

- x -

In the morning, Hermione woke up, stretching and rubbing her eyes. She stepped off her four-poster bed and was surprised to see many wrapped boxes in front of it. For about five seconds, she had to think about why she had presents in front of her bed, but then she remembered, feeling stupid that she didn't figure out right away. She was beaming as she grabbed the first present she saw, wrapped in red and gold paper. Before she even got a chance to rip the wrapping paper, a certain red-haired girl slammed the doors of the empty dormitory open.

"Happy birthday, Hermione!" Ginny squealed, going over to Hermione and hugging her tightly.

Hermione laughed. "Thanks, Ginny."

"All right, then. Open your presents! I ate breakfast quickly so I could be here."

"What, did you get me something especially special?" Hermione asked.

"Well, no, not really. I couldn't really afford anything too expensive," she replied as if she was sad about it.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I guarantee I'll be happy with whatever you gave me."

"Speaking of which, it's so odd how you picked up mine first."

"Oh, this is yours?" Hermione asked, shaking the little box in her hands. Ginny nodded and gestured her to open it.

She ripped open the shiny paper, which revealed a black box. Hermione lifted the lid carefully and saw a silver bracelet that had a charm in the shape of a book on it. This did _not_ look 'I-couldn't-really-afford-anything-too-expensive' at all.

"How much was this?"

"Why would I tell you that? Oh, and see how the book charm is made of glass? Inside it, there's some kind of magic chemical thing that changes colours depending on how you're feeling. And, if you don't know what the colour means just by looking at it, half of the chain morphs into the name of the mood you feel," Ginny explained. As she was speaking, Hermione put the bracelet on her left wrist. The colour in the book immediately changed to yellow and some of the chain turned into a word: _happy_. "I hope you like it." "I _love_ it, Ginny. Thanks!" Hermione hugged her friend and proceeded on to opening her other gifts.

Harry got her _A Witch's Guide to Dealing with Big-Headed Men_, in which he wrote a card telling her that it may be useful for dealing with Draco. Both Hermione and Ginny laughed. Ron got her earrings that weren't the best, but was thankful for him trying anyway. Parvati and Lavender got her make-up(as if she would put that stuff on), Dean gave her a new, very good quill, and Seamus a notebook(Hermione had said that she really needed a new one). Her mum and dad gave her money that she could turn into galleons, a letter that said everything was fine and happy birthday, and a recent picture of the two of them. Her dad was in a wheelchair, and to be honest, didn't look _as_ well as her mum has been telling her, but Hermione reassured herself that he was fine. Apparently, her father was now getting private home care, which didn't really mean that he was _completely_ all right, but she decided not to dwell on that either.

"What's that?" the redhead asked, pointing at something on the floor.

Hermione followed her hand to a white book with a small yellow paper on the top right corner. It looked way too familiar. She went over to it and bent down to pick it up. She sat down on the bed, Ginny joining next to her. On the post-it note, it read:

_Don't throw it at me again. It's yours now._

Hermione gasped, removed the post-it, and read what it said on the cover in black ink.

It was the scrapbook.

Her jaw dropped, along with Ginny's.

"Is he serious?" Hermione asked, anger raging inside her. The charm on her wrist changed to red, and the chain formed the word _angry_. "Is he _bloody_ serious?"

"Open it!" Ginny said, excitedly.

She opened up the book and, sure enough, there were pictures of them. Page after page, just how she remembered it. Every single thing was exactly the same.

"_He_ made this? _Malfoy_ made this?" Ginny gushed. "It's _amazing_..."

"Yeah, pretty amazing," Hermione said through her teeth. The nerve of him to just _give it back_. She pushed it over to Ginny who, she could tell, still wanted to look at it.

"I can see why it took four weeks. Everything is perfect! I would never throw anything this gorgeous at someone."

"Couldn't he have given it to me when it was just the two of us? What if I decided to open my presents down in the common room with Harry and Ron this year? They would go bonkers! How _dull_ could he get?"

"It's just so _odd_... seeing both of _you_ together. As kids. Extremely happy with each other's presence," Ginny said, turning a page.

"Those pictures were taken in times that feel like they were in a different life. Considering how nasty we are to each other now."

"This is so _adorable_! You're kissing his cheek!" Ginny pointed at a picture. Hermione already knew what picture she was talking about.

"See the dandelions in my hand? He picked them all for me while we were playing in this field behind my uncle's house. When he gave them to me, I kissed him on the cheek. My dad was there, so he took a picture when it happened," Hermione explained. The Memory Potion that she had made a week ago made her remember these little moments so well.

"I can't picture Malfoy doing that. I can't even picture him smiling like that anymore."

"He doesn't do much of that anymore. All he does is _smirk_," Hermione said in disgust.

"That's definitely true," Ginny agreed, closing the scrapbook, and putting it on Hermione's bed. "But let's go get you some breakfast. I'm sure everyone else will want to greet you too."

Hermione picked up the scrapbook again and put it under the bed so no one would see it. She then walked with Ginny out of the girls' dormitory, out of the common room, and to the Great Hall.

"Happy birthday, Hermione!" Harry and Ron were the first ones to yell out before she even got to sit down. After that, everyone looked towards her and yelled out the same thing.

Hermione said thank you, and thanks for all the gifts that she got from them. As she sat down, she glanced at the Slytherin table and found that certain blonde looking at her. It was to clarify that she had, indeed, received the scrapbook he had given her earlier this morning. He nodded, then turned away to swat Pansy's hand away from his arm.

Shortly after she started eating, owls flew into the Great Hall. The mail was here. Hermione spotted her owl with a parchment tied to its leg. Odd, her mum had already written to her this morning. Why did she have to write again? It floated down to her, right next to her plate. Hermione untied the note from its leg and gave her owl a little treat. It then spread its wings and flew away. As she read it, her hand slapped to her mouth and she gasped.

_Hermione, dear,_

_I'm in the waiting room while I'm writing this letter. My handwriting is a bit sloppy... in quite a hurry. Something went wrong with your father's body, something that caused him to shiver uncontrollably. He began to sweat. Don't come home, sweetie. It'll be all right. That's all I can say right now. I've got to go see what's wrong. Love you, dear._

_Mum_

She dropped the letter, not really sure how to react to that. On her _birthday_, something has to go wrong. Should she go back home? Her dad wouldn't want that, though. But what if she never saw him--

No, she couldn't think like that.

Her dad was going to be fine. Everything is going to turn out just great, he's going to be cured...

"I need to go back home," Hermione muttered after a while.

"Wait, Hermione," Ginny said, looking and pointing up. "Another owl is coming for you."

Hermione looked up and, sure enough, there was an unfamiliar owl flying towards her. It landed down on the table, right next to her plate. As Ginny gave it one of Harry's owl treats, Hermione untied the letter around it's ankle.

_Everything is fine, dear. He had some kind of... I don't even know what it's called. Some kind of big hospital word. Honestly, I want you to come back home(when do I not?). I asked your father if I should tell you to come home, but he said, "No. Tell her not to worry about me. I'll be just fine. And tell her I love her. More than anything."_

_He found a picture dug up in his wallet. He said I should give it to you. It's in the envelope._

_We love you! And miss you._

_Mum and Dad_

Hermione breathed a huge sigh of relief and put the letter down. Wondering what the picture her dad found in his wallet was, she picked up the envelope and looked inside it. There was a small wallet-sized picture in there, turned over so that she couldn't see the actual picture yet. There was her father's writing on the back. It said, _Draco's 10th Birthday_. Hermione gaped at it as she took it out and turned it over. She held it in her hand so she was the only one who could see it.

"What's that, Hermione?" Ron asked, trying to peer over her hand to see the picture.

Hermione didn't hear him. She was too busy gaping at the picture in her hands. It was a photo of Draco and her from behind. Their heads were turned to each other, laughing, close together, like they just shared an inside joke, and... were they _holding hands_? It looked like Draco had just put his hand in Hermione's, since her hand wasn't fully clasped around his in the moment this photo was taken. The bracelet was on the wrist he was holding her hand with. That was when it all started.

She smiled at the picture, almost laughed, actually. It was just too _odd_ seeing them so happy with each other... him holding her hand.

Ginny peered over Hermione's shoulder to see the picture and was so close to grabbing it out of her friend's hand to "aww" at it.

At that time, people started standing up and exiting the Great Hall. Hermione tucked the picture into her mum's letter and stuck it in one of her books. She then stood up along with Harry, Ron, and Ginny to exit the Great Hall.

"I have free period right now. Malfoy and I are working together in the library today," Hermione said, putting on a disappointed expression.

"All right. See you, Hermione. And happy birthday, again. Don't let that ferret ruin it," Harry said, giving her a half hug. "And read that book I gave you. Sure gave me a laugh."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks, Harry."

Ron and Ginny told her happy birthday again and gave her hugs. They all then parted to go to their classes.

Hermione walked the short distance to the library and entered it. No one. Except Madam Pince, who was walking around swiftly, putting books in their correct place. Hermione walked to the most secluded section of the library, where they planned on meeting, and saw him sitting at the table in the section, his head in his arms on the table. He easily could have been sleeping. As she looked at him, she began to remember again why she was so angry at him for giving her the scrapbook. He was just so _stupid_. But then he lifted his head when he heard her come. She walked over and took the seat across from him, putting the book she was carrying on the table and her knapsack on the floor. He already had his patrols schedule out, another piece of parchment, a quill, and ink.

"Hogsmeade trip went fine yesterday, right?" Hermione asked, more bitter than she planned on saying it. "I didn't have to take away any points and there were no difficulties."

"Hufflepuff broke his bloody arm. Stupid bloke slipped on a wet step while getting out of a carriage and fell," he said. "He said it was my fault. First years..."

"That it?" she said.

"Yeah."

"All right then. Patrols--"

"Oh, our _favorite_ part of the day," he interrupted, getting a glare from Hermione for doing so. "You seem more cranky today than you have been before. On your birthday, too. What's got your bloody knickers in a knot?"

She was silent for a moment as she flicked the end of the letter her mum gave her over and over, sticking out of her book. He waited patiently, knowing she was about to blow up.

"How _dumb_ are you?" she began. Draco took out his wand and put a Silencing Charm around them. He knew there would be yelling. "The _scrapbook_? Ginny was there to open my presents with me! She, of course, was eager to see some photographs of us when we were younger, happy with each other in our lives, and how '_sweet_' Draco Malfoy was before Hogwarts. What if some of the other girls in my dormitory came up and opened presents with me? What if I brought my presents down to the common room to open them with Harry and Ron? Do you know how _horrible_ that would have been? You know you'd probably be _beaten up_ right now?"

Draco scoffed. "First of all, beaten _up_? By Potty and Weaselbee? That's a laugh," he said.

"Don't flatter yourself, Malfoy."

"Second," he started, ignoring her comment, "did any of those things happen? _Did_ any of your other girly friends come up to your dormitory? Did you open presents with your two little friends?" He didn't even wait for her to answer. "No! Then why are you going so _mad_?"

"Just _think_ a little!" Hermione yelled, throwing her hands in the air and standing up, shaking the table a little as she did so. The picture that was tucked into the letter got shaken out onto the table. Neither of them noticed it.

His jaw did not clench, which made her even more mad. Was he not getting affected at all by her yelling at him? Was he not even _listening_? Because he didn't seem angry getting yelled by a mudblood, like he usually was.

Draco stood up, too. He didn't want to look _up_ to her when they were arguing. "I thought a _lot_," he said calmly.

"About what? You sure didn't think much about _when_ to give me the scrapbook, which I don't even want." She went around the table and walked closer to him.

There was something oddly attractive about how she was yelling at him today. It was sort of... fetching. And the closeness. She was a little too close to him right now. Her shampoo...

"_Well_, Malfoy?" she yelled again, taking another step towards him, as if he'd be able to hear her better if she took another step closer. It didn't really help him in trying to think of something to say.

Fruity shampoo... pink lips...

_Control yourself, Draco,_ he thought.

"_Malfoy!_!"

"_What_? What do you fucking _think_, Granger?" he yelled just as loud as she was. He tried to ignore the image in his head of him kissing her. He tried to ignore the intoxicating smell of her shampoo as his face inched a little closer to hers. God, she made it so bloody _hard_. "I think about _you_!"

She was silent.

"Do you know just how many _things_ I wonder about you?" he asked, his voice still loud. "Thirteen _sodding_ years of knowing you, and you're _still_ a girl I can't figure out."

A girl he couldn't _figure out_? Why does he have this desperate need to figure out every single girl in the whole entire world? What does that even _mean_?

But he thought about her. He actually _thought_ about her. And he wonders about her, too! Of course, it always gives you a good feeling when you know someone's thinking about you...

This was definitely going to make her over-think.

"_God_, Malfoy, you're such a prat!" she groaned. "Do you know how much that last sentence will make me _think_?"

"Good! I hope you do think more. I hope your mind starts going absolutely _mad_ because then, you'll probably be where I fucking am right about now."

"And where exactly are you? What the _hell_ has been going on with you, Malfoy?" she asked almost desperately. "You're not as much of a prat as you were before, you're always looking at me in a way that is not glaring, and you look absolutely miserable when you're around me. What, am I _that_ annoying that you have to look like that whenever we have to work?"

Oh, bloody hell. She notices him looking at her? She can see that he's actually going mad inside when he tries so hard to cover it up? Oh, bloody hell. This girl was going to be the death of him.

But her fruity scent, fiery personality...

Draco groaned. "Granger, I don't know what it is about you. Before, you were the annoying mudblood I didn't give a shit about. Now, you're --"

"I'm _what_, Malfoy?"

"You're _Granger_, someone I've known for thirteen years, can't figure out, and dread having to work with, but can't stay away."

Draco has silenced Hermione once again.

He made absolutely no sense to her anymore. She didn't even know what he was saying. He dreaded having to work with her, but then he can't stay away? What the _hell_ was that supposed to mean? He needed to do or say whatever he's been holding back, because she realized that whenever he looked at her, he would look like he was keeping himself from doing something. It was driving him mad, therefore, driving _her_ mad because she didn't know exactly what it was causing him to act like that.

_God, even when she was just _thinking_, she's intriguing,_ Draco thought. _And she is still awfully close..._

"Well, _I'm_ definitely tired of seeing you that miserable around me," she said sternly. "You need to say whatever you need to say, or do whatever you need to do. I'm tired of you and your personality."

"Oh, you want me to do what I want to do?" he asked. "Because, Granger, I've been wanting to do something to you since seven days ago, and you better not get into a whole hissy-fit when I do."

"Seven days ago?" she questioned. Her mind was blanking out as his face got closer to hers. It was hard to focus on what to say when an extremely pale and gorgeous face was inches away from your face. "Hold on, Malfoy, what exactly do you want to do?" Her voice got turned down to barely above a whisper.

His eyes were locked with hers. He moved his face an inch closer. One little movement and their lips would touch. "Care to guess?" Draco whispered.

Hermione's heart rate sped up. She was afraid he could hear it beating. He was going to kiss her. She was sure of it.

_What's taking so _long_?_ she thought. She couldn't even mentally slap herself for what she just thought. She wanted to kiss Draco Malfoy. Well, _you_ would too if he was this bloody close to your face.

Then, unexpectedly, with all the strength he had, he pulled away from her and took a step back. Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. When her mind processed what just happened(or _didn't_ happen), she took a step closer to him again, and her anger started flaring.

"That all you wanted to do?" she asked. "Because you still look miserable."

"_No_, Granger," Draco snapped, moving his face closer to hers again, "that's not what I wanted to do. And I'm pretty sure whether I do it or not, I'll turn out being miserable around you again, so what's the point?"

"The _point_ is," she then said, moving her face closer to his, "you're losing your chance."

_She's too close, she's too close..._

"You're probably just gonna end up snapping sometime anyway," she pointed out smartly. They stayed silent for quite a few seconds, staring intently at each other. Draco was debating in his head whether he should or shouldn't kiss her. Hermione was waiting for him because she didn't want to be the one to make the move.

His lips were pursed in a straight line and his fists were clenched. He was trying to hold himself back. It definitely would _not_ be smart to kiss her. What if someone found out? He'd be dead.

He couldn't even think straight. An image of him kissing Hermione and how much of a relief it would be kept popping into his head. It wasn't _normal_. Why does he even want to kiss the mudblood? She hasn't even had much kissing experience, so she probably wouldn't be any good. Why does he have this want to kiss her? _God_, he wanted to... especially considering how close they were and how fierce she looked staring him in the eye.

Then, Hermione pulled her face away and took a couple steps back. "All right, then," she said, walking back to her side of the table.

_Control yourself._

Draco unclenched his fists and pulled her in. "Damn you, Granger," was the last thing he said before he lost control and kissed her hard on the lips.

- x -

**A/N: Sorry it took so incredibly long to write this! School's started and that kept me busy for a little. And, I have to admit, I've been a little lazy, too. I don't know how soon the next chapter will be finished, but another chapter _will_ come out. I'm sure! I hope you all haven't given up on me yet. Please review! Let me know what you think. (:**


	9. Opposites Attract

_Chapter 8  
Opposites Attract_

_"Damn you Granger," was the last thing he said before he lost control and kissed her hard on the lips._

At first, it was fierce. When Draco kissed her, he pushed her back so that her back slammed against the wall. This was his way of letting it all out. This was his way of showing her just how much he thought of her, how much he wanted to kiss her, how agonizing it has been for him, how irritating it was being around her and holding this in.

Hermione was getting weak under his kiss. The only thing holding her up was the wall and his arms on both sides of her waist.

_This is wrong. This is _so _wrong._

The same thought was going through each of their heads, but neither of them felt like listening to it.

Hermione found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and playing with his surprisingly soft, blonde hair. Draco put a hand around the back of her neck and massaged it slightly there with his index finger and thumb. She moaned at how good it felt, which encouraged him further. He ran his hands down her arms and along her back. Her stomach did an enormous flip as he did this. Draco didn't dare go any farther down. He was afraid she'd throw him off of her and the kiss would be over. And he obviously didn't want that to happen.

Draco pressed himself into her more, if that was possible. He was definitely not supposed to do this. Some kind of crazy spirit must have taken over him to make him do so. That, or the scent of her shampoo had some kind of odd effect on him.

God, this just felt too _good_. Hermione has never ever kissed a boy like this before. Draco _Malfoy_ at that. She wondered if he had this effect on all the girls he snogged. But he probably did.

Merlin knows _how_ long they snogged before Hermione finally found the strength to pull away. It took every single ounce of energy for Draco to not pull her to him again.

_That was probably the stupidest thing she's ever done in her life,_ he thought, opening his eyes.

Hermione leaned on the wall. If she could, she'd take a couple steps back. He was basically sandwiching her between himself and the wall.

"Umm..." she said, completely at loss for words. She looked up at him and caught his eyes, making butterflies form in her stomach again. "I think we should get back to work."

He scoffed and took a couple steps back. "Of course the first thing you'd think about is getting work done," he said.

"Well, of course," she said, walking around him to her side of the table. She saw that the picture her father had given her fell out of her book and quickly shoved it back in her book. She definitely didn't want Draco to see that. "We just got totally sidetracked for I don't know _how_ long and now" -- she looked over at a clock hanging on a nearby wall -- "Merlin, there's ten minutes left of free period." She did another double-take at the clock again. How bloody long did they snog? "And how much have we gotten done? Nothing."

"If you thought I was such a waste of time, you should have ended it sooner. I was just doing what you told me to do."

"_What_? I did not tell you to _kiss_ me!" Hermione said, taken aback.

"Please, you knew that was what I was holding back. And that whole moving closer to me and saying, 'You're probably going to end up snapping anyway.' What else could you have possibly been talking about when you said that?"

"I could have been waiting for you to yell at me in my face, or -- or..." She didn't have any other excuse.

"See, Granger? It's not just _my_ fault we didn't get any work done."

"But now it is because you keep extending this argument. Just shut up and let's get to work," Hermione stated.

"You know your fierce tone isn't really helping me," Draco said, taking an unnoticeable step closer to her. "Didn't I tell you that yelling wouldn't help, Granger?" He took another step. He had this wild look in his eyes that made it easy for Hermione to figure out what he was trying to say. "Do you really expect us to get anything done in ten minutes?" Another step closer. Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

"We'll get something done," she managed to get out. "And that's better than nothing."

He stepped closer again. Their faces were centimeters away from each other. Butterflies started fluttering in Hermione's stomach. She felt weak again.

Merlin, he knew how to get a girl to want to kiss him.

Hermione put a hand on his chest and pushed him away. "I swear to God, if you even _try_ again, I will hex you into oblivion."

Draco wasn't going to give up. He went back to the same position he was just in before she pushed him away, except this time he slipped his hand to her waist. A shiver tingled through her spine.

"Oblivion, eh, Granger?" He caught her glimpse at his lips and smirked.

Oh, God, even his _smirk_ looked sexy now.

"Where's your wand?" Draco asked. "I tried again and I haven't gotten hexed yet." He slipped his other hand around the nape of her neck.

Hermione would have to punish herself later for forgetting how to breathe.

He then started leaning down to her lips ever so slowly. Right before his lips were about to land on hers, he heard her whisper something.

"_Impedimenta_," Hermione said into his ear.

Draco let out a surprised yell as he got thrown back against the wall and fell to the floor. When he looked up, he saw Hermione twirling her wand between her fingers with a satisfied look on her face.

"Let's get to work now, shall we?"

- x -

"I'm serious, Draco. She's the only person you've been talking about since the first day of school. What the hell is wrong with you? Starting to fancy the mudblood?" Blaise asked his friend. They were in the Slytherin common room, sitting in the armchairs at the dark corner of the room. Draco had just come back from a class(which of course, Hermione was in), and the first thing he said when he saw Blaise was how annoying Granger was. This is how all their conversations have been starting lately.

He scoffed. "Fancy? You think I _fancy_ her? That's a laugh," Draco said.

"Someone needs to slap, or punch, some sense into you. You're going crazy. All you're talking about is her and I'm afraid you're starting to fancy her. You know how much of a disgrace you will be if everyone finds out that you fancy _her_?"

"I don't fancy her, you twit! She just does so many irritating things and I need to vent it all out."

"Ahh, really," Blaise said. "So what exactly was going through your currently crazed head when you were looking at the things she gave back to you? I came down from the dormitory and saw you staring at the same bloody item for eternity. And I swear, you didn't even blink."

"I don't know! Everything," Draco said, frustrated by him now.

"And wasn't today her birthday? Her little Gryffindor friends were abnormally loud when they greeted her a happy birthday today. Who knew the mudblood could have so many friends that remembered her birthday?" he asked, almost forgetting the main question he was supposed to ask Draco, who flinched slightly at the rudeness of his words about her.

"Yes, it was her birthday today, Blaise," he told him. "Seven days after mine."

"Well _someone_ surely remembered it," Blaise said, earning a glare from Draco. "You didn't _give_ her anything, did you?"

"No," he lied comfortably. "Why would I get her _anything_? It's not like she deserves a present." In his head, he completely disagreed with that statement, then mentally slapped himself for disagreeing with it.

Blaise sighed and shook his head disappointingly. "You gave her something. Holy _shit_, Draco, you _gave_ her something! What idiotic spirit has taken over you?"

Draco looked surprised. "What, in Merlin's name, gives you the revolting idea that I gave _Granger_ a present?"

"What'd you give her? Huh? Was it your bracelet?" Blaise asked. He brought his hand up to his chin and started stroking it as if he was thinking about something. "Oh, _wait_ a minute. That's right, you still _have it on_!"

"I gave her _nothing_." _Except the scrapbook. And a small snogging session during free period. But besides that, nothing._

"Nothing," Blaise said, staring him down, trying to get him to crack.

"Nothing," Draco stated, meeting his deadly glare. What a game he was trying to play: trying to crack _him_.

His friend sighed and gave in. "All right. I'll believe you for now. I know you gave her something, though."

"What the fuck, Blaise," he cursed. "I didn't give her _anything_. So shut the hell up and go fuck yourself in the dormitory."

"Ahh, losing your temper. Now I'm absolutely sure you gave her something."

Draco got up and left the common room, leaving Blaise smirking in the armchair.

- x -

The Hogwarts Grounds filled with the sound of an excited scream from Ginny Weasley. Hermione had just informed her of what happened during her and Draco's free period this morning. She almost regretted that she did, for she was completely sure she lost her hearing permanently. Hermione _knew_ she should have brought earplugs.

"Ginny, I'm deaf," Hermione said, touching her ears as if it'd help. When Ginny calmed down, she took a couple breaths, then stuck up one finger in the air.

"First of all," Ginny started, breathing a little heavily from her scream, "you need to get some sense slapped into you." With that, she slapped her right in the face, making sure she didn't leave any kind of mark.

"I guess I needed that," Hermione agreed, touching the cheek in which she had just been slapped. It didn't hurt that much, but it seemed to make her realize just how _stupid_ she was.

"And second of all, you deserve an applause," she finished. When Hermione gave her a confused look she continued. "Draco _Malfoy_ wanted to kiss you! In fact, he _did_ kiss you and made it into a snogging session in which he threw you up against the wall and kissed you like you were his life--"

"All right!" Hermione yelled, stopping her from saying any more. She was making it sound a lot more heated than it really was. Actually, it _was_ that heated, but Hermione didn't like to hear about it. Especially if it was with _him_. "I don't need to hear the details. I was there, remember?"

"Well, of course," Ginny said. "Your lips still look like you just had a fantastic snog."

It was silent for a few moments as they walked through the Hogwarts Grounds. It was windy outside today and slightly cloudy. A little bit of sun was able to make its way through the September afternoon. It was the perfect weather, for it wasn't too hot or too cold, the perfect day to take a nice, relaxing walk that didn't include _any_ screaming at all. But Hermione wasn't able to get that, for she decided to go with her brainless idea of bringing Ginny along with her.

All Hermione could think about since this morning was the kiss. Even during class, she accidentally wrote _kissing_ instead of _killing_. She had to get a big blob of ink just to black it out! It made her paper look messy and unorganized. Of course you'd know Hermione Granger hated when things weren't perfectly neat.

But _God_ it was so good. He unquestionably knew what he was doing. Just the way he slipped his tongue in her mouth and snaked his hands around her waist. The way his hands ran up and down her back and arms. How every move he made sent shivers up and down her whole body. How he didn't take it any farther than snogging. Kissing him made her feel... she didn't know how to describe it, but it was a good feeling.

It was _all_ perfectly good. Very good. Extremely well.

And you _could_ say that she wanted to do it again. Maybe.

"You know what I think?" Ginny said suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. Hermione looked over at her and waited for her to continue. "I think he's starting to fall in love with you, if not already."

Hermione stopped in her tracks and stared at her friend incredulously for a few seconds. Then, she burst out laughing.

"That was probably the _funniest_ thing you've ever said in your life," she said after she calmed down a bit.

"What? You don't think I'm right?" the red-head asked. She wasn't laughing at all and was determined to prove her wrong. "Do you even _notice_ how much he looks at you? How much he stares at you? How miserable he looks?"

Hermione's laughing died down to silence and bemusement. "Well..." she said after a while. "I mean, sure. He looks miserable because he has to work with what he thinks is the most filthy, irritating girl in the whole entire world--"

"No, he looks miserable because he doesn't know how he feels about you," Ginny stated knowingly.

It _did_ make more sense. "Well if he doesn't even know how he feels, why do you think _you_ do?"

"Because I do," she said simply. "D'you remember last year? How Harry had that enormous crush on me? I could feel him looking at me all the time. And then whenever I was in the same room as him, he'd stutter more and not be much of himself. When I was with Dean, I remember seeing a pained expression on his face. Then, later on that year, I figured out that he did have feelings for me."

Hermione took some time to sink in everything she just said. She didn't understand how that related to Draco and her.

"It all fits, Hermione," Ginny continued, noticing her confused look. "He looks at you all the time. He's not himself when you're with him--"

"He's himself," she interrupted, trying to find any excuse to make what Ginny was trying to prove untrue.

"Yes, Hermione. Malfoy is himself when he decides to snog you senseless. _That_ sure sounds like him," Ginny said sarcastically. Hermione sighed, defeated. "And as I was saying, he's not himself when he's around you. He looks miserable all the time..."

"I still don't believe you."

"Why not?"

"Because it's _too_ unreal. It's ridiculous. This is _Malfoy_ we're talking about, and we both know he's a complete git," Hermione said. She was silent for a few seconds as she thought of something else to say. "And why would he want to fall in love with someone like me anyway? We're completely opposite."

"Haven't you ever heard that opposites attract?" Ginny asked with a mischievous smile on her face. "And why _wouldn't_ he want to fall in love with you? You're Hermione Granger, the girl he's known since he was four-years-old, but still finds you every bit interesting."

- x -

Draco and Hermione walked around the giant first corridor during patrols to see if any students were out late. They both doubted they'd find anyone, for the whole entire year, they only had to take points away four times from three houses. Right now, they both wished there was at least _one_ person who was out late, for something needed to break the uncomfortable, pretend-like-the-kiss-never-happened-at-all silence.

Draco, for one, thought of this whole silence as the most miserable thing that's ever happened to him. Which of course wasn't true, but right now, he couldn't think of anything else more horrific. He sent frequent glances in her direction to see if she had any kind of misery on her face, but she had none. And that made him stress more, for she didn't look like she was having _any_ trouble with the awkwardness when he _was_. It made him wonder if she was even thinking about what happened that morning, or if he even should be stressing about it.

Well, of _course_ he shouldn't be worrying about it. It was _Granger_.

Hermione, actually, was completely dying inside. How long have they been patrolling now? It felt like hours, but she knew it's only been minutes. As they were walking down the dimly lit hallways, she kept a straight and determined face on. Her concentration was on the wall that signaled a turn at the other side of the corridor. When they reached that wall and turned, she'd focus on the next wall that they were walking to. It was very useful in preventing her facial expression from looking absolutely miserable. She was very well aware of the constant looks he would cast at her face by use of her peripheral vision.

As he looked at her again, Hermione finally saw something straight ahead that would put some dialogue in this whole patrol night. It was a boy. It was a student out late. She was never so happy to find a student out of bed.

"You," she said to the boy several feet in front of them. He was in his first year or so and he was wearing Ravenclaw robes. Neither Draco nor Hermione knew who he was.

The boy looked at her with a scared expression on his face. Draco almost laughed out loud. "Me?" the Ravenclaw asked, pointing at himself.

"Who else would she be talking to?" Draco blurted out rudely.

"_Malfoy_!" Hermione scolded, hitting him across the shoulder. He was never so pleased to hear his name from her in an insulting way. Finally, there was _conversation_. "What are you doing out late?"

"Oh, well... er... I was... sleepwalking?" the boy said lamely.

Draco chuckled and Hermione glared at him, then turned her attention back to the boy.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw for being out of bed after hours. Now hurry back to your common room before Filch catches you," Hermione said, pointing down the hall to a door that would lead to the Grand Staircase.

"Or the Bloody Baron," Draco said under his breath. The Ravenclaw's expression turned into fear as he started walking the way Hermione was pointing.

"Malfoy!" She slapped him across the shoulder again. "Stop scaring him!"

"Oh, come on. It's not like the Bloody Baron can _do_ anything to you," he said to her.

By then, the Ravenclaw had already went through the door and was out of sight.

"Why must you be so _rude_? He was a first year! Did you see how fast he got through that door? He was probably scared to death!" Hermione yelled, pointing in the direction of the door at the other side of the hall.

"He'll get over it, Granger," he told her.

She groaned and gave up, not wanting to say anything anymore. A never-ending silence started again.

Draco looked at her. It wasn't just a glance. He _looked_ at her. Something was off with her today. She'd usually fight back and then their argument would last until the end of patrols. Usually, she'd have this fire in her eyes and a certain tone in her voice that showed she was ready to take anything he said to her, that she wasn't going to give up until she had the last word.

Right now, her eyes were dark and her tone wasn't fierce at all. It was as if she was forcing that certain tone out, like she was _expected_ to do it and not because she wanted to.

Then, something happened that Draco didn't expect at all. She turned her head to look at him. Her eyes locked with his and Draco found himself not being able to rip his eyes away.

There was confusion in her eyes, as if she was telling him to answer her unspoken question. Draco was just searching her eyes, not sure what he was trying to find.

After a minute, it just became a staring match. Both were too stubborn and competitive to look away first. But Hermione had to say, she didn't really mind staring into his eyes. They were quite beautiful and she never realized just how exquisite they were.

Hermione was the first to look away, however, when she caught him glance at her lips. She suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and awkward under his gaze, which was still on her.

"Granger," he said.

"Malfoy," Hermione said back, not looking at him. She knew it'd be hard to look away if she did.

Draco forgot what he was supposed to say. "Never mind," he muttered lamely.

And then silence again.

- x -

_My Dearest Hermione,_

_I'm sorry I've been worrying you so much. I sense how worried you are from the way you write your letters. I want to see you more than anything in this world, but I know that wouldn't be smart for your grades if you skipped school to come here. I know how important your grades are to you. I know you need the best to excel in what you want to do in life. I don't want you to have any chance of losing you're incredibly bright future just to come and see me._

_Did you see the photo of you and Draco I found in my wallet? That was on his tenth birthday. It's a rather lovely photograph, isn't it? I remember taking it. I caught you youngsters at the perfect moment. What's happened to you two? You used to be best friends, inseparable. I know you go to school together, how much you hate each other now, and how you are Head Boy and Girl. Doesn't that require spending a tremendous amount of time with each other?_

_Now I want to be truthful to you, Herms. I don't look so well and I'm abnormally weak. The doctor says I only have four months to live. The tumor is spreading to all parts of my body and I'm getting more helpless each day. It will eventually spread to parts of my body that I need to live and shut them down. I thought it was important that you know, even though I can barely write. I found the strength to write you this letter because I think you deserve to know the truth._

_I love you, Hermione. More than anything in this world. I'll see you Christmas._

_Love,  
Dad_

Hermione wasn't used to the truthfulness of her dad's writing. It was always her mum sending her letters, updating her on how her father was doing. Her mum told the truth about it, but she made it sound like it wasn't _that_ bad. Then, reading her dad's letter, Hermione realized that things aren't going so great. In about four months, she wouldn't have a dad.

She fought back tears, not wanting to cry now. She had to be strong throughout this whole time. If she were with her dad, he wouldn't want to see her worry about him so much that she cried every time she received a letter from them. He'd want her to be the strong girl he knew she was and focus on the things at hand.

Hermione folded the letter back into its envelope and put it inside her bedside drawer. Crawling into bed, she fell asleep.

- x -

**A/N: I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, SO sorry for my lack of updates. It's getting difficult for me to write this story, but I'm still writing! To tell you the truth, the next chapter may not be up for a little bit, but your reviews will motivate me and encourage me to write faster. Thanks for sticking with me! Want to review for me? (;**


	10. Questions

_Chapter 9  
Questions_

_Dad,_

_I know you keep telling me not to come home, but I'm sure I can arrange something with Professor McGonagall to floo there when I don't have classes. I really want to see you, Dad. I can come during dinner, or my free period, or something. But I won't do anything unless you say I should._

_And answering your questions, I did see the picture of Malfoy and me. It made me laugh a little because it's weird seeing us like that. We're never really happy whenever we see each other anymore. It's been that way for seven years already. We're actually pretty rude to each other and insult one another as much as we can. Did you know he's still wearing the bracelet I gave him on his birthday? He never took it off. We do have to spend a lot of time together, making schedules and coming up with ideas for the school. It takes an extremely large amount of patience, but we end up getting things done. He's changed a lot._

_I can't wait to see you Christmas, Dad, and thanks for being honest with me. I love you._

_Lots of love,  
Hermione_

After reading it one more time, she folded up the letter into an envelope and gave it to Hedwig. Harry let Hermione borrow her for the day.

"Take it to my mum and and dad, Hedwig," she told the owl, stroking its feathers and giving it an owl treat. She flew away into the cold November morning to deliver her letter.

With that, Hermione threw on her uniform and exited the common room to eat breakfast in the Great Hall. Gryffindor Tower was pretty much empty, so that meant everyone was there already.

When she entered the Great Hall, she went over to her friends and sat down in the empty space next to Ron.

"Morning, Hermione," they all greeted her, to which she responded by giving them a fake smile.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked her, tilting his head to the side.

Hermione looked up from her empty plate. "Not really." Harry, Ron, and Ginny all looked up at her with concern in their eyes. Ron even stopped stuffing his face to listen to his friend. Hermione sighed. "I got a letter from my dad last night when I came back from patrols. Handwriting was sloppy, but I still was able to read every word." She stopped, putting a biscuit on her plate. Her voice got lower and more saddening. "He's weak, and he's getting weaker everyday. Umm..." It was hard to continue. "The tumor is spreading throughout his body and he only has four months to live." She cut her biscuit in half and started buttering it. "Maybe even less," she muttered as an after-thought.

"Oh, Merlin," Ginny whispered.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. She felt like crying, but didn't dare let any tears out.

"We're here for you, Hermione. Always," Ron said, patting her on the back.

That put a smile on her face, which brought the rest of them up a little. "I know," she said. "You always are."

With that, they continued eating their breakfasts normally until classes started. Her first class today was Charms, which didn't include any of her best friends, but included some close ones from her house.

When she entered the classroom, there was a reasonable amount of people in there already. She took a seat next to Neville, who was sitting a desk behind Dean and Parvati. Of course they were sitting next to each other. Then, Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle entered, taking the empty seats behind them. Hermione pretended like she didn't know they arrived, even if they were talking unusually loud.

She felt eyes on her, beating down on her back. She already knew who it was looking at her and desperately wanted to look at him back, but that would break the whole pretend-like-he-isn't-there thing she was doing. Hermione made some conversation with Neville, who then started telling her a story about his grandma hitting a random man in a store with her purse. It was a story that made her laugh and forget about everything that's been happening. Though it only did that for a minute, she was thankful for it.

Soon enough, Professor Flitwick came walking into the classroom and stood on his pile of books. Today, they were reviewing the Colour-Change Charm, Summoning Spell, and Enlarging Charm. Afterward, they would have to do a worksheet, answering questions about the spells they just mastered. As usual, Professor Flitwick would be assigning partners because the class got too rowdy whenever they chose their own. Hermione knew she was going to get assigned with Draco, for Flitwick always paired her up with him. Something about them being Head Boy and Girl and how marvelously they worked together.

After Flitwick was done assigning partners, she waited until Draco switched seats with Neville before she said something.

"You start," she said, not looking at him.

"Which charm?" he asked, his eyes aimed straight at her.

"You pick."

Taking his wand out of his robes, he swished his wand in the required movements and changed the colour of the parchment on their desk to a lavender shade.

Hermione just stared at it, wondering if he _knew_ that was her favourite colour, or if he just picked it out of nowhere. Draco's stare was still on her face. He wanted to get her attention, dammit. After several seconds, she waved her wand and changed it to striped green and silver colours. She knew his favourties, too. It was more difficult to cast it so it changed to two colours, but she knew perfectly well how to do it.

"_Engorgio_," Draco said, pointing his wand at the piece of parchment. Its size increased.

Hermione did the same thing, causing it to get larger.

Quite a few moments passed before Draco decided to do the last spell they had to practice. He waved it in the specified maneuvers and said, "_Accio Granger's book_."

Hermione spun her head in his direction as the novel she was reading made its way out of her knapsack, which was sitting on the floor between their chairs, and into his hands.

She quickly waved her wand and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa_." The book floated out of his hands to the top of his head. She let go of the spell, sending the novel to fall straight onto his forehead. The picture her dad found in his wallet that was tucked loosely into the envelope her mum had sent her fell out and drifted to the ground, face down.

Hermione gasped as she reached her arm down to the photo.

"_Accio_!" Draco said abruptly before she got her hands on it. The picture flew off the ground, to him. All this happened at a surprisingly fast speed.

"Malfoy!" she yelled, trying to grab the picture from him. All her tries were unsuccessful, but she kept trying.

So he could look at this mysterious photo in peace, he grabbed what was supposed to be her wrist, but accidentally grabbed her hand. Everything froze.

Hermione could do nothing, but stare at her hand clasped into his. An electric shock ran throughout her body, causing her spine to tingle and goosebumps to form on her arms. Butterflies flew inside her stomach and her breath hitched in her throat.

Someone _seriously_ needed to teach her how to breathe.

After a few seconds, Draco's mind hit earth and let go of her hand. He looked around, making sure no one saw them. Everyone was so focused on trying to master the three spells. Even Blaise and Pansy didn't notice. Oh, thank God. He then looked at the picture Hermione had tried so hard to keep him from seeing. This time, _he_ felt like he couldn't breathe.

Hermione swiped it from his hands and placed it inside her bag.

"That was --" Draco said. "I don't remember that one."

"Neither did I," Hermione said icily, still not looking at him. This was still bothering Draco.

She grabbed the worksheets sitting on the corner of their desk and placed one in front of him. She then took out a quill and ink and started working on it without saying anything.

Draco sighed and got out a quill and ink, too. "Goddamn, Granger," he muttered under his breath. She pretended like she didn't hear him.

And they worked in silence for the rest of the class.

- x -

"... And again, I'm very sorry that it was such short notice. I'm sure you two will be able to prepare a Christmas Ball two weeks before it is to be held. It shall be taken place on the twenty-third before those who wish to be home for Christmas will leave. You both have been working marvelously with each other and are doing a fairly decent job. I look forward to see what you two come up with in two weeks," McGonagall finished explaining. "If you need any help or have any concerns, please feel free to contact me immediately. I must be going now, but I suggest that starting immediately would be the best thing to do." She gave them a stern nod and swiftly walked away, out of sight.

Draco and Hermione stood there for a while, surprised, sinking in everything Professor McGonagall just told them. They just had the huge responsibility of planning a ball and what was worse? They had to do it in _two weeks_.

They were standing at the front of the Great Hall, after dinner when everyone has left. Now they were the only people there since Professor McGonagall walked away.

Hermione swallowed. "Is she serious?" she asked, her voice low and calm. But Draco knew better. He knew that her voice was going to rise and rise until it was a full out yell. It seemed to happen to him quite a bit. "Does she really think we can plan a Christmas Ball two weeks before it happens? Doesn't she _know_ -- ?" Her eyes flashed dangerously at the person who interrupted her. He wasn't afraid of her at all.

"Look, Granger," Draco started, "I would bloody well _adore_ hearing you rant about having 'another huge weight put on our shoulders,' or 'another immense responsibility to fulfill,' but I _strongly_ suggest that you shut your mouth and start walking to the Room of Requirement with me to start this fucking assignment." With that, he turned away from her and started walking out of the Great Hall himself.

Hermione was shocked. If she wasn't mistaken, _Malfoy_ had just told her that they should get to work, though in the rudest, most obscene way. She turned and joined him in walking to the Room of Requirement, where no one would be able to hear her yelling at him. It was his idea to start working in here, for he grew tired of casting silencing bubbles every time they would start to argue in the library. When he suggested the idea, she scolded herself for not thinking of it first.

When Draco let the door appear before them, they entered the Room of Requirement and sat down at the table. Hermione took a piece of parchment from the pile that was already on the table and grabbed a quill that was sitting right next to the pile of parchment.

"Winter-ish setting?" Hermione suggested, looking up at Draco, who wasn't looking at her for a change. He looked at her and their eyes connected immediately. "Red and green Christmas colours would seem like some kind of Gryffindor and Slytherin competition."

"Winter-ish setting, then," he agreed, staring into her big brown eyes. "Big tree up at the front where a stage has to be put up for the band that'll be playing. Snow falling from the ceiling?"

Hermione was shocked about how they were actually agreeing with each other. And about the fact that he was actually coming up with ideas and working _with_ her. "Snow falling from the ceiling," she confirmed. She forgot that she was supposed to write all this down. His eyes had something new in them today. She didn't have any idea what it was, but his eyes were different.

Draco didn't know why looking at her was so interesting. He didn't know why he seemed to always look at her during classes or whenever they worked together. He didn't know what about her entranced him so much. She was just different, somehow. When you first look at her, she doesn't exactly qualify as the most beautiful girl in the world. Hermione was far from that, actually. She was beautiful in a less obvious way. Her eyes were the most... there wasn't even a word for it. There was always a fire in them that hid all the troubles she was having. Often, the fire did well in covering the sadness found deep in her eyes.

He wanted to figure out what was wrong. Though she never showed it to him, he knew that she was upset about something going on in her life. Of course he knew she wasn't going to tell him, for they weren't friends and didn't share things like that, but it would be nice to know.

They still haven't mentioned anything about the kiss. Still. Until this day, roughly three months later.

Hermione finally snapped out of it and looked away from him, writing down what they just discussed.

"McGonagall can easily get the Weird Sisters to play for the night," Hermione said, not looking at him.

He didn't realize that she said something. He was looking at her face, remembering the feel of her soft lips against his. He thought about it often when he was with her, for he always wanted to do it again.

"Malfoy?" she said, interrupting his thoughts.

Bloody hell, what was she doing to him?

"Weird Sisters. Yeah," he agreed, trying to get the image of snogging her out of his head.

There was an awkward silence as Hermione wrote that bit down, biting her lip.

Draco really needed to get away from her right now.

Or kiss her.

But that wasn't an option.

He suddenly got out of his chair, causing Hermione to look up, and started walking to the door. She stood up, too, and walked up to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, slipping from behind him to the front of the door, blocking it. Draco almost ran into her.

"I need to leave," he replied as if that was the only think he would have to say. Hermione glared up at him with the usual fire in her eyes, waiting for him to say more. But he had no more to say.

"You're funny, Malfoy," she said, without the least bit of humor. "Weren't you the one who said we should get to work?"

"Didn't mean I would actually _do_ any." He was glaring back at her, trying not to lose control again. They were unusually close again and he could smell her fruity shampoo. This is what caused him to kiss her last time. He held his breath after he finished his sentence.

"Well you were doing an exceptionally good job at helping me before you started not saying anything."

"I'm not doing a good job now, so why do I still have to be here?"

"You're _Head Boy_, Malfoy. We're supposed to work together."

"That's not working out too well, isn't it?" Draco asked. "Didn't even get any work done last time we were in the library months ago."

Hermione was shocked that he even mentioned that day. They never spoke about it in any way. "Then let's get some work done now."

"I already helped you on some things. Winter-ish setting, Weird Sisters, big stage, Christmas tree."

"Because those are the only words we need to prepare for a Christmas Ball," Hermione said sarcastically.

"It should be."

"Well it's not."

"Can you get out of my way? I have things to do."

"Like what? Snogging with pureblooded girls?"

"What if I am?"

Anger flashed in her eyes and she grit her teeth. Draco saw the slightest bit of hurt in those big brown eyes and that struck something in him.

"Then they should know that a muggleborn was kissed with those lips."

Was she _trying_ to kill him? She was basically putting the image of that day in his head herself. He took a breath, regretting that he did, for the scent fluttered into his nose.

_Fight it, Draco, fight it._ "What they don't know won't hurt them."

"Yeah, not knowing that you fancied me when we were younger _definitely_ didn't hurt me when you left."

Now bringing back their childhood? Kill him now. Just kill him. Quick and painless.

"Get out of the way, Granger."

"You really think I'm going to just let you go, not helping me with this anymore?"

"Yeah, I do. It's what you _should_ be doing anyway."

"Well, tough for you because I'm not."

"Why do you have to be so difficult, Granger?"

"Look who's talking, Malfoy."

"It's been three months since that day, Granger, but don't think I won't do it again to get you out of my way."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "You wouldn't do that because you wouldn't be able to stop."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Who's the one who pulled away first?"

Damn, she was always quick with comebacks. She never had nothing to say.

"Does it matter? Got you to loosen up a bit."

"I don't know what you're talking about because I seemed to talk -- or hex -- you into getting back to work."

She was making him look stupid. He _was_ stupid. He knew that the next thing he was going to say or do would not be smart at all.

Draco leaned in so slowly, it seemed like he was going to kiss her. Hermione was about to move her head out of the way when he moved past her lips, to her ear. Her body wasn't letting her breathe.

"Don't think I won't kiss you again, Granger," he whispered.

Tingles made their way from her ear throughout her whole body. "Don't think I'll _let_ you, Malfoy," she said, knowing it was a complete lie.

Draco pulled away from her ear so he could lock his eyes with hers. Their lips were just a centimeter away and her fruity scent was difficult to ignore.

"Don't," Hermione said, unable to stop her eyes from glancing at his lips.

"You know how long it's been since I snogged a girl?"

"Three hours?" she said sarcastically.

"Three months."

Surprise showed itself in her eyes. "Then keep that record going," she managed, gently putting her hand on his chest and pushing him away.

Draco blinked and turned his head away from her. "What the fuck are you doing to me, Granger?" he asked, his tone turning to his regular Malfoy one.

Hermione propped a hand on her hip and scowled. "What am _I_ doing? I'm not doing anything."

"You don't get what I bloody mean," he said.

There was a long, awkward silence. Draco ran his fingers through his hair while Hermione stayed with her hand on her hip.

"Fine," she gave in. He was surprised. She was _always_ able to get him to at least _stay_ while she did the work. He turned to look at her again. Something foreign in Hermione's eyes were showing themselves today: desperation and sadness. There was no fire whatsoever, hiding away those emotions that used to lie deep in her eyes. "We'll work in two days since there's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow. I'm tired of you and your _moodswings_ for today." She turned around, opened the door, and exited the room, leaving a dumbfounded Draco behind.

He wasn't use to that. He wasn't used to seeing her just give up. She looked as if she was just put up with everything. Tired.

Draco felt like he was supposed to follow her, demand what the hell has been going on with her lately. Of course he didn't, but he felt like he was obligated to. She was obviously exhausted, had a lot on her mind, and was hiding something from him. Well not _hiding_ it, actually. She just didn't want to share it with him because they didn't do things like that. Why was she so sad? Did it have to do with her father? Was he still sick? What kind of fever could he possibly have that would last this long? It must be some kind of disease. Something that can't be cured.

Or was she just feeling the same way he was? Did she think about him just as much as he thought about her? No, that couldn't be possible. Every time she left the room, she was still _there_. Her very form was _always_ in his mind. It didn't want to leave. He didn't know what it was about her. He had no idea what this was, how he was feeling. It was a something that was unknown to his mind. He couldn't recall what the name of it was. If there _was_ a name.

He suddenly had a lot of questions. Why does _everything_ she say play endlessly in his head? Why is it that every time their hands brushed by accident, he _felt_ it and noticed it as if he just got electrocuted? Why is it that he didn't think bad things about her anymore? The same things he used to hate her for are the things he found intriguing now.

Why is it that he didn't hate her anymore?

Then it hit him, slapped him in the face. Draco felt like slamming the door with such force that the hinges broke, breaking something, knocking over the table. He had the urge to scream immaturely and let everything out destructively.

Now he only had one question:

Why the _hell_ did it have to be Granger?

- x -

**A/N: Yes, I'm still alive. As I say every time I post a new chapter up, I'm terribly sorry it took such a long time. Oh, and a short note: No matter how long it's been since I've updated, don't think I've discontinued this story. I _will_ get this finished, though I don't know how long it'll be. But I'd like to take my time with this fic so that it's better than any other story I've written in the past. I find that when I rush to get a chapter done, the story gets rushed, and ends up getting written badly. I don't want that to happen to this fic, so I'm taking my time. You guys want a great read, don't you? (:**

**I'm sorry for the shorter length, but it was the best I could do. Forgive me, won't you? And review because they motivate me more than anything else to keep writing.**

**Keep your eye out for the next chapter, for I guarantee it'll be an interesting one. ;) Thank you, all my faithful reviewers and readers! You guys rock for sticking with me. Review!**


	11. Hogsmeade

_Chapter 10  
Hogsmeade_

After the little argument Malfoy and her had in the Room of Requirement, Hermione walked to her safe harbor: the library. It was the one place where everything was familiar and nothing tried talking to her. It was quiet and since she always went to a secluded corner where nobody was able to bother her, she found it a great place to get some privacy and some time to herself. Which she greatly needed right now.

She was finding him more irritating than usual. And he wasn't saying many things that should irritate her either! It was that he _didn't_ say many things to her anymore that bothered her. Before, he would constantly have some snide remark and rude name to say to her. Now, he doesn't even do that anymore. Hermione couldn't even recall when the last time he called her a mudblood was. Shouldn't that mean something?

Draco seemed to have this effect on her everyday. Everything he did would make her over-think. Everything he said would cause her to say it again in her head as if she didn't understand. He just never sounded like himself anymore. Well, she couldn't say that because he _sounded_ like himself, but he just wasn't. There was something in him that was odd, different.

He'd look at her like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. Like she was some big, huge enigma that was impossible to figure out. Maybe she was, but to herself, she didn't seem that confusing. She's a girl who loves books, cares a great deal about school, is clever and smart, and dislikes a certain Malfoy.

Hermione almost gasped when she realized that she thought of disliking Malfoy rather than hating him.

What, so she just _disliked_ him now? It had to be more than that. Sure 'hate' is a strong word, but she _strongly_ hated him. With a passion. But she just thought of just disliking him, so maybe that wasn't true.

What was going on in the world?

So she dislikes Malfoy.

That's fine, right? It's okay if she _dislikes_ him. It's not like she fancied him or anything...

Hermione just sat there for a while, a novel she didn't intend on reading in her hands, thinking about her last thought.

Now this is not fine. She had to _think_ about if she fancied him or not! This is absurd, completely delusional.

She tried thinking of a reason about why she had to think about _that_, but couldn't come up with one. She almost started going crazy. Then, she thought about something Ginny said a while ago.

_"I think he's starting to fall in love with you, if not already."_

It didn't seem so funny now. And that annoyed her further.

Hermione got up from the empty table and made her way out of the library, coming to the conclusion that she was tired and not in her right mind. She went up to the Gryffindor Common Room to go to bed since there was no patrols today. Thank God.

- x -

The next day was Saturday, which was when yet another Hogsmeade trip was taking place. Draco and Hermione went earliest out of all the students, for they needed to be at the drop-off before anyone else to monitor and patrol. It was cold, snowing, and everyone bundled up to keep themselves warm on the cold December afternoon.

The two Heads stayed standing at the drop-off, not saying one word to each other the whole day. They would simply just nod their heads at each other and somehow understand what the other was saying.

Draco didn't like the realization he made the night before and he also didn't like the fact that he was always showing signs that it was true.

Hermione, on the other hand, didn't want to think too much into it today and decided to think one thought the whole time they had to be together for the day: _I dislike him. I dislike him. I _strongly _dislike him. Yes, I do._

"Here they come," she muttered, referring to the group of carriages getting closer and closer to them. Draco didn't say anything.

For a half an hour, they assisted the first years that needed help, lead the carriages to a 'parking' spot, and counted them up. Harry, Ron, and Ginny agreed to meet with her in Honeydukes when she was finished.

When they were done, they parted without a word. Draco sighed and concluded that he needed a drink. Arriving at the Three Broomsticks, he got what he needed.

- x -

When Hermione saw them at Honeydukes, the boys and girls parted and decided to meet at the Three Broomsticks in about a half an hour or so. The boys said they wanted to get something at Zonko's Joke Shop, which neither Hermione nor Ginny wanted to go, so they separated.

The girls first went to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, for Hermione said she needed anouther new quill. Then, they went to Gladrags Wizardwear because Ginny wanted to get a piece of clothing for Harry for Christmas. However, when they went in, they simply walked up and down the men's section once and walked out. Ginny said something about how all their clothes were ghastly. Next, they walked into Dervish & Banges, where Ginny found a gift for him that satisfied her, and bought it. By then, they had to meet the boys at the Three Broomsticks and the two girls made their way there.

"You and Malfoy looked pretty awkward when we arrived at Hogsmeade. You two weren't even speaking either," Ginny said, bringing up the subject out of nowhere. Something in Hermione's stomach flipped when he was mentioned. "Now that's odd _especially_ for you. You always have something to say."

"I guess neither of us felt like saying anything."

"When you were helping us with our carriage and Malfoy was helping with someone else's, I saw him look at you." She looked at Hermione.

"Okay?"

"He looked awfully _miserable_ if you ask me."

"Ginny, if you're going to bring up that whole 'he's falling in love with me' thing again, I don't want to hear it because it's ridiculous."

"Oh, I'm not going to bring that up," she assured, "because we both know that he's already in love with you."

Hermione rolled her eyes and gave up. However, she _did_ think about what Ginny said.

They arrived in the warm Three Broomsticks and searched the crowded pub for Harry and Ron. Each of them spotted one another at the same time and pointed at each other. The two boys were at a table with the usual group of Gryffindors they hang out with: Dean, Seamus, Neville, Parvati, and Lavender. Hermione and Ginny made themselves comfortable and took a seat. A waitress came and asked them what they would like. All the girls got butterbeers, while all the boys got firewhiskeys.

The group of Gryffindors were still chatting animatedly for almost an hour. Hermione stopped listening to the gossip Parvati was informing them with when she saw a flash of blonde hair in the corner of her eye. She looked in the direction in which she saw it and saw Draco. He was sitting with another girl from Slytherin in which she did not recognize. Probably a sixth year, or someone who just wasn't in any of her classes.

"...and then he said..." Parvati continued on, everyone else listening intently.

Hermione watched them from the corner of her eye. She didn't know why, but she wasn't able to stop looking at them. They were sitting at the bar in tall chairs and bodies facing each other. Hermione had a side view of the two of them. The girl was exceptionally pretty with shiny, long, straight, dark brown hair. It looked like a girl he'd snog, but then he snogged her, so she didn't really know anymore. The both of them were talking normally, laughing at something once in a while. A bartender gave both of them firewhiskey bottles.

"...then she started screaming at the top of her lungs! And..." Okay, so Parvati was still telling her story and everyone was focused on her. It was safe to keep looking.

When she looked back, the girl was telling him something and Draco was looking at her, listening. Hermione couldn't see if his expression was bored, miserable, or interested because she only had a side view. Draco took his firewhiskey and took a long drink from it. His face scrunched up as he swallowed the strong liquid down. He smashed the bottle down on the table, sounding a small _clunk_. In one quick motion, he wrapped his hand around her neck and pulled her lips to his.

Hermione's stomach seemed to flip over and jump into her throat to keep her from breathing. Her mouth felt dry and she couldn't swallow. Something in her chest shattered and broke into pieces. It hurt in every sense of the word. That spot in her chest hurt so much, she just wanted to die in that moment. She felt tears threatening to come out, but she didn't dare let them. She heard a ringing in her ears and wasn't able to listen to Parvati's gossip any longer.

Hermione got up from her seat, drawing everyone's attention to her. "I just remembered," she said. "There's this book I had my eye on before and I need to buy it now before I forget."

Ginny looked at her quizzically. Everyone else merely nodded and said that they'd see her later.

Before she went out the door, Hermione looked over at the bar again, where they were still snogging. Shaking her head and looking away, she went outside and leaned against a wall near the Three Broomsticks. As she was out there, in the cold December weather, she wondered why exactly she had to get out of there, take deep breaths, and fight back tears. She didn't care about him and it didn't matter what he did, right? Why was she here, then?

Her stomach was still filled with uneasiness and was flipped upside down. Her breathing came out deep and slow and there was something going on in her chest.

Her mind was going absolutely insane.

She jumped to the conclusion that she's jealous. But that can't be right. Since when does she get _jealous_ when _he_ snogs another girl? So what if it's been three months since he kissed a girl. That three-month streak didn't have to be broken by kissing _her_. However, she felt like it should have.

Hermione groaned and pulled her back off the wall. She started walking back to the Three Broomsticks since she was out there for a long time and if she went back inside, it'd seem like she just came back from the bookstore. When they asked her where the book she was supposed to buy was, she'd reply saying that they didn't have it anymore. And she would _not_ look at the bar. Hermione had it all planned out.

But when she was about to pull the handle to open the door, someone ran out of it and knocked right into her. She tripped a few steps backwards because of the big impact.

Hermione looked at whoever just knocked into her and took another big step back immediately.

"_Malfoy_, what do you think you're _doing_?" she said, dusting herself off. She was angry at him and she didn't _not_ want to see him now. Besides, shouldn't he be inside snogging that girl senseless?

"Ahh, Granger, just the girl I've been thinking about," Draco said, slurring on his words. He smelled like alcohol and every step he'd try to take was wobbly.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. He was _drunk_.

"You know, I have to tell you something." He was pointing his finger at her, but looked like he was tired of holding it up. He took a step toward her and slipped on something icy. As if it was some kind of reflex, Hermione caught him. She was surprised. Before, she'd probably just let him slip and fall.

Hermione didn't want to be seen with him like this, so she walked him to a nearby alley so that no one would be able to find them. _She_ actually did the most walking, though. He was tremendously heavy.

"Malfoy, _what_ do you think you're doing getting _drunk_?" she asked, frustrated with him. "Professor McGonagall is here and I don't think she wants to see the Head Boy like this, you stupid piece of rubbish!"

Draco pressed her against the wall. She held her breath so she couldn't smell his firewhiskey breath. "You know, I didn't hear a word you said. Those are gonna be the first words that won't play endlessly in my mind later."

Hermione didn't even know what to think of that. "Get off me, Malfoy. We have to get you back to the castle before someone sees you like this."

His hand slipped around her waist and pulled her closer. She tried to push him away, but not as strongly as she could have.

"Granger, I'm _drunk_," he whispered to her.

"No kidding," Hermione said sarcastically. She finally made it successfully out of his grasp and grabbed his arm. "We're going to Apparate to the carriages. And I don't care how much it'll make your head hurt. It's what you get, you sodding idiot."

And with a deafening CRACK and an uncomfortable pull, they appeared at the sight of the carriages. There wasn't anyone there yet, for people never left Hogsmeade this early.

"That wasn't smart," Draco said. He was clutching his stomach with both of his hands. "That _hurt_."

Hermione groaned. "You're a baby when you're drunk."

"I am _not_!" he said as if he were a little kid. She crossed her arms, her point proven.

"Hurry up and get into the carriage. Lean over and puke at the sides if you need to."

She let him get into the carriage first before she sat in it herself. He had a hard time finding the step to get in it, but he made it in. She gave the horse a couple slaps on its back to get it going.

"Okay, now that we're going," Hermione started, "_what_ are you doing getting drunk, you stupid twit?"

Draco had his hand at his stomach, looking like he could throw up any minute. "Well, you of course," he said, slurring.

"That's rich, considering you had a snog with some Slytherin girl at the Three Broomsticks." Her arms were crossed again. Draco was too drunk to notice the fire he loved so much was back in her big brown eyes.

"Had to get drunk enough to do it, though."

Hermione got confused. "What?"

"I figured out I can't kiss a girl that isn't you without drinking a couple bottles of firewhiskey. Or a lot more than a couple."

"So you got drunk _just_ so you'd be able to have a good snog?"

"Of course not. I originally got drunk so I could get my mind off of you. Then I saw this girl who looked pretty decent, started talking to her, and thought, 'Hey, she should kiss better than Granger.' So I gave it a shot after I drank enough. It didn't work out."

Hermione's mouth was slightly open, speechless.

"Now I feel like I need another fucking drink because, for some reason, you still look so goddamn beautiful even when my vision is cloudy."

Draco didn't seem to realize what he just said, for his eyes didn't widen and he didn't freak out. Hermione, on the other hand, felt her heart mend itself back together and her stomach turn into butterflies. Breathing was difficult, though.

"Lean over the edge, Malfoy. You look like you need to puke."

"It's odd because you look like you need to, too."

Funny.

But sure enough, he leaned over and threw up over the edge of the carriage. His throat was dry and his head started hurting. His vision was still foggy and he still won't remember anything that will happen now when he gets sober.

The carriage stopped and Hermione helped him out. Draco was leaning on her shoulder as if she were his life and dragged his feet to wherever she was taking him. When they entered the castle, she looked both ways to see if anyone would see them. They could _not_ be seen leaving Hogsmeade early. Together. While Draco's drunk. And Hermione taking care of him. You know what rumours that can start?

Every hallway they would turn into, she'd check to see if the coast was clear and trudge him along with her.

After using an abnormal amount of energy, they arrived where Hermione intended to: the Room of Requirement.

_I need a room with things that a drunk person would use. Where they can throw up when they need to and where they can collapse when they need to sleep,_ Hermione thought. The door appeared right before their eyes and she hurriedly dragged him in there, closing the door shut. In the room, there was a sink, a chair, and a twin bed good enough for one person. The room looked funny because of all the random items in it, but they were definitely things they needed.

Draco walked lopsidedly to the sink and threw up again, washing it out when he was done. Hermione could smell his horrible breath several feet away from him, so she cast a spell to eliminate the odor.

He always had a hold on either Hermione's arm, waist, or hand. She found it quite odd, but he was drunk. He wasn't in the right state of mind. Whenever she'd shrug his hand away, it always found its way back to her.

Hermione was helping him walk to the bed when, suddenly, he turned to her and pulled her by the waist closer so that their bodies were touching. This happened very quickly and she didn't even expect him to do anything like this.

"Granger..." He was still slurring on his words and his eyes were still clouded. However, his breath no longer had a wretched smell because of the spell Hermione cast on it.

"Malfoy, you should go to sleep."

Draco leaned his forehead on hers. Her breath quickened. "I'm drunk... and I ended up snogging this random girl, but I still end up wanting you."

She took a step back, but he ended up walking her into a wall. "Okay, as you said, you're drunk. Don't end up doing something you'll regret later. I don't want to experience your mood swings again."

"I never regretted kissing you, Granger."

Hermione noted that he is oddly truthful when he's drunk.

"I know you'll regret that you told me that later when you're in your right mind."

"I won't remember it."

"I will," she said. "You should go to bed."

"Not until you let me kiss you."

Hermione felt his grip around her waist tighten. She brought her hands to both of his and tried pushing them away.

"You're not gonna stop me," he said with a smirk.

"I'm stopping you now, aren't I?" she told him, pushing him away.

Then, he leaned in quickly and kissed her before she could say or do anything else. Hermione made a surprised sound, not expecting him to do that. After a couple seconds, she pushed herself away from him and walked aside to get out of his grasp.

"_Stop_, Malfoy! I don't want to experience your temper later, so to make it easier for both of us, you should either go to sleep, or if you think you can make it all the way there without help, go to your dormitory and sleep there. Either way, I'm leaving now. I've done enough for you today," she stated firmly, getting herself out of his grasp.

"Then just do one more thing for me and _stay_," he said as she made her way to the door. "Granger--"

Hermione stopped right before the door. "Just go to sleep. What more can I do?" She turned and saw him already making his way over to the bed.

"My head hurts," Draco said, sitting down with his hand clasped on his head.

"You're such a baby," she told him, walking towards the bed. "Come on now, lie down." She fluffed up the pillow on the small bed.

"Granger," he said, "I'll go to sleep--"

"I'm _glad_."

"--if you kiss me again," Draco finished. Hermione froze. "It can even be just a peck."

"No," Hermione said. "Lie down, Malfoy."

"I won't until you do it."

"I'm leaving."

"I'll follow after you like a sick, drunk puppy."

"No, you won't."

"Why not? I'm drunk. I'll do anything."

"I'll slap you."

"I'm not letting you leave until you do it."

"I can leave you right now."

"But you're not."

How was he more intelligent at comebacks when he was drunk? Odd.

"I am now," Hermione said, turning around. He grabbed her wrist before she could take another step.

"I won't remember it."

"But I _will_."

He let go of her. "Fine then. Don't blame me if I'm all cranky tomorrow because you made me feel like a bloody idiot."

"Well you _should_ feel like an idiot because you _are_, Malfoy!"

It was silent for a while before he said something again. "Just stay," he said lowly.

Hermione stared at him for a long time, amazed at how vulnerable he sounded at the moment. The way he said it made her want to stay and formed butterflies in her stomach. A funny feeling filled her whole body and she found herself walking back to the bed and sitting on the chair beside it. Draco seemed fairly shocked by her reaction as well, for he looked at her with curious, cloudy eyes.

She didn't know why she was doing so much for him. Taking care of him while he was drunk? Getting him out of Hogsmeade before anyone saw? Staying with him now? It all didn't make the least bit of sense to her, but she proceeded to doing those things anyway. A new, odd feeling settled on her mind and it tried to make her admit it to herself, but she was too stubborn to let it get through her head.

Yet, as she watched him for that long amount of time as he slowly drifted off to sleep, Hermione couldn't help but think of the possibility that she may be in love with Draco Malfoy.

**A/N: Well, won't you look at that. Last chapter, Draco realized his feelings and this chapter, Hermione does(in a way). How interesting. Now, you know what I'm going to say next. I'M SORRY for the tremendously long time it took! I actually blanked out while writing this chapter and wasn't able to write it for quite a few days. But I finished it, and now I think you should review. (:**

**Thank you, my fantastic readers! Promise not to give up on me, okay?**


	12. Mistletoe

_Chapter 11  
Mistletoe_

After that day, neither Draco nor Hermione spoke of what happened. They didn't say anything about how she took care of him and stayed to make sure he was okay. They especially didn't talk about the fact that when he woke up, she was hunched over the side of the bed, sleeping on her arms.

It was the twenty-third of December and the Christmas Ball takes place today, two days before Christmas, one day before the students who wish to go home for the holiday leave. Hermione is among those people and already had the clothes she would need packed in her suitcase.

Since there is a lot of things that need to be taken care of today due to the Ball, Hermione is, what you can say, going insane. There are no classes starting today, but the Heads still had a lot of work to do before they could relax.

At breakfast that day, Hermione was extremely distressed. She had a notebook in her hand, along with a quill, to write down a checklist of things Draco and she would have to do today. She wanted to make sure that this day went perfectly fine with no wrongs. If anything went bad, she'd feel like it was her fault and her day would be partially ruined. Not wanting that to happen, she was more uptight today than she was any other day.

"Hermione, stop worrying. Considering how many hours you spent with the ferret to make the Ball tonight happen, I know it's gonna be great," Harry tried.

"Harry, if I stop worrying, all those hours will be wasted. Things will go wrong and I won't be prepared for any of them. Malfoy is surely not going to do anything since he's... you know, Malfoy." Every time she'd mention his name, her stomach did a little flip-flop and she didn't know why. Well, she did, but still didn't like to admit that to herself.

"Malfoy's a bloody idiot. Why hasn't he been helping you in planning for this thing?" Ron asked.

"He has been helping, surprisingly, but I know that if I tell him to go do something later, he'll be stubborn and won't do it. Then, we'd argue and argue and sooner or later, I'll be the one who cleans it up," Hermione said knowingly. She knew him too much now.

"Do you even have a _date_, Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Well... no," she replied, "but I haven't had time to find one."

"Haven't had time my arse," she said. "Now, it's one thing for a girl to go to the Ball alone, but it's _another_ thing for Hermione Granger, Head Girl, to go alone. Set that notebook down and let's go. I'm sure Neville doesn't have someone to go with..."

"He's going with Luna," Hermione said. "And I haven't heard _you_ having a date yet, Miss Ginny." Her eyes shot to Harry for a second, to which he responded by looking away uncomfortably. Hermione had a little talk with him before and he swore he was going to ask Ginny, but didn't get around to getting it yet.

Ginny cleared her throat. "I'll go with friends," she told Hermione, "and it doesn't really matter if I go without a man or not."

Harry coughed, looking down at his empty plate.

"Did you say something, Harry?" Hermione said through clenched teeth, staring him down. He looked at her and regretted it. She looked so damn intimidating.

"No," he replied, telling her to stop bothering him with his eyes.

She sent him a look that read, _'I'll murder you if you don't do it now.'_ To which she received a helpless look from him that said, _'Not now, please.'_

"Ron, who're you going with?" Ginny asked, breaking the stare-in-the-eye argument that Harry and Hermione were having.

"Lavender. I didn't tell you?"

"Told me," Harry said with a shrug.

"But of course he told you. He considers you more as a brother than he does me as a sister." Ginny glared at her brother. Ron faltered. Harry laughed. Hermione was back to writing down things in her notebook.

By then, almost the whole Great Hall was emptied, for everyone had finished eating breakfast and such.

"What about Malfoy?" Ginny questioned, looking at Hermione skeptically.

She looked up at the mention of his name. "What about him?"

"He going to the Ball with anybody?"

Hermione looked at her, confused. "I don't know. Why?"

"You two have to spend an abnormal amount of time together almost everyday. Must have slipped sometime," Harry said, realizing how often Hermione had to be with Draco.

She shook her head. "Can't recall if it hasn't or not, but it doesn't matter anyway."

"I mean, you see him probably more than you see us," Ron added in. Hermione wondered what they were trying to get at.

"I've _had_ to lately. Professor McGonagall made us plan a whole Christmas _Ball_ in two weeks. Do you know just how difficult that is? Especially when you're working with someone like Draco? It's maddening and infuriating," she ranted, bending her head over again to write more things in her notebook. Harry, Ron, and Ginny stared at her in shock. The three of them exchanged curious looks.

"Okay, the fact that she didn't even _notice_ freaks me out," Ginny said lowly.

"The fact that I didn't notice what?" Hermione asked, looking up again. She noticed the three surprised expressions and wondered what it is she said that caused them to react in that way. Then, she saw the three of them look up at something behind her. Now, even more confused, she turned her head around and saw Draco Malfoy towering above her.

"Granger, McGonagall wants to see both of us in her office right now. Made me go around the school to find you. How long do you lot _stay_ in here?" Draco exchanged glares with Harry and Ron. Ginny, however, looked at him normally.

"What for?" Hermione asked, gathering her stuff.

"If I knew, I would've already told you," he said in such a tone that made Hermione's blood boil.

She stood up and looked at him, that fire burning in her eyes. He stared right back at her. His eyes flashed with something different for just a second, then went back to their regular grey colour. Ginny noticed it easily, almost smiling. Harry frowned. "Great, _mood swings_ again," she muttered, turning to her friends and saying, "I'll see you guys later." She then joined Draco in walking to Professor McGonagall's office.

"I don't _have_ mood swings, you twit. You're presence just makes me angry."

"Well that's terrific to hear because we have to see each other almost every day of our school year," Hermione said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, absolutely _terrific_," he muttered. _I have to deal with that abnormal feeling in my stomach almost everyday of our school year._

It was quiet for a while as they walked through a few hallways. Professor's McGonagall's office was still a mile away. Did they always have to get a full _workout_ whenever they had to go to her office?

"Who are you going to the Ball with?" Hermione asked normally, assuming that he already had a date. Her stomach twisted, almost nervous to hear the answer to that question.

He answered after a couple seconds. "No one," he replied. Hermione's eyes widened in a shock, but her stomach filled with pleasant butterflies for a reason unknown.

"That's odd." She looked at him. "I'm sure there are tons of idiotic girls who would love to go with you." _And I am absolutely and positively _not _one of them._

"I don't want to go with an idiot," he said, glancing at her. She looked away.

"You seem to have snogged with a bunch of idiots in the past," Hermione muttered.

Draco smirked. She could hear it in his voice. "Maybe I do snog idiots, then," he said, looking at her again.

She got fairly angry. Hermione Granger may be many things, but she is _not_ an _idiot_. Just look at her grades if you need proof. She didn't even feel like arguing with him anymore. They walked the rest of the way to Professor McGonagall's office in silence. When they got to the statue, Hermione said the password and they entered through the door that appeared. McGonagall looked up from her desk and stood up when the two of them came in.

"Ah, Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy." Her strict voice had a flick of worry in it. "I just need to tell you two small, important details that will be in effect. Firstly, you two need to start off the dancing. I don't care how much you may despise each other, but there is nothing more suitable than having the two Heads that planned the whole event start by having the first dance."

"But, Professor, wouldn't it also make much sense if you and... and--" Hermione couldn't think of a staff member or teacher who would fit appropriately to dance with McGonagall.

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but this is how it's going to be. But this must be the least of your worries because _secondly_, you must make sure that Peeves isn't flying around the place. These times are the best times for him to pull pranks and irk everyone. He already broke all the ornaments to be put up on the huge tree. It's going to take a lifetime to get them all repaired."

Draco stayed strangely quiet throughout the whole conversation. His insides panicked when McGonagall stated that they would have to open the Ball with a dance. He would have to control his facial expressions because extremely observant people may be able to identify feelings and spread it around to the whole school. But that task would be harder because he would actually be _holding_ her. By the waist. And they would be closer than usual, which means her _damn_ shampoo would be easy to smell.

This was going to be a difficult day.

- x -

After an enormous amount of time decorating and getting everything just right, the Heads, teachers, staff members, and prefects succeeded in transforming the Great Hall into a Winter Wonderland.

The house tables were removed and replaced with many small, circular tables surrounded with matching chairs. A huge stage was located at the front, which also contained a huge Christmas tree decorated appropriately and perfectly. Speakers were located randomly on the walls for full surround sound, tables of food were located at a corner of the Hall, and a huge dance floor dominated the middle of the room. Icicles came down from the ceiling even though it was fairly warm in the Great Hall and snowflakes fell until they were halfway through the room before they disappeared.

Overall, everyone did an amazing job.

Now, it was time for everyone to go up to their dormitories and pretty up for the actual start of the Christmas Ball that started in an hour.

All the Gryffindor girls got ready together. They helped each other with makeup, hair, opinions, and such. Hermione didn't feel like looking extravagant, for it took way too long. However, Ginny managed to force her into a seat in front of a mirror and put more glam onto her friend.

"Ginny, please, why do you have to -- ouch! -- do this?" Hermione asked. Ginny had accidentally poked Hermione in the eye while _trying_ to put eyeliner, but she kept on moving.

"I'm barely going to do anything! Just a light layer of eye liner, lip gloss, and blush. It'll all look natural. You're dress is absolutely gorgeous, by the way."

Hermione gave up, letting the redhead put makeup on her. When she was finished, she looked at herself in the mirror and concluded that it didn't look half bad. Ginny did as she said she would and it did look natural. Her hair was tied up in a professional-looking way with little strands of her hair curled. She was wearing a champagne-coloured dress with matching heels. Drop earrings hung from her ears and a gold necklace laid on her chest.

Ginny smiled at her work. "Come on. Let's go."

When all of the girls went down to the Gryffindor Common Room, the boys were already waiting at the bottom in similar dress robes. They all looked up at the girls, their mouths slightly opened. Everyone paired up with their dates if they were there and started walking to the Great Hall.

When they reached their destination, everyone stopped at the door in awe as they looked at the beautiful setting. Tons of people were already there and it was as if they were the last batch of people to arrive.

Hermione pushed past everyone and went to Professor McGonagall, who was gesturing for her to come to the front. Draco was already there, having spotted her immediately as she came in. As she got closer, he found that it was harder to rip his eyes away. Or breathe. Or even _attempt_ to speak.

"I will introduce the Christmas Ball. You two will know when to open the dancing," McGonagall told them, walking up onto the stage. She pointed her wand at her throat to amplify it. "Welcome, students and staff, to the Hogwarts Christmas Ball. I know this school doesn't have these kinds of things annually, but as the Headmistress, I thought it'd be a great idea to hold this. It is also a great way to let our seventh years, who have done so much for all of us, to have their last Christmas holiday here at Hogwarts special.

None of this would have been possible if it wasn't for the constant planning and hard work of our Head Boy and Girl, Mister Draco Malfoy and Miss Hermione Granger." Everyone lightly applauded. "And now, to start the dancing, I invite the two Heads to the dance floor."

The whole Hall's heads turned to Draco and Hermione. Draco smirked at Hermione's obvious nonconformity at all the attention. He stepped in front of her and offered his hand.

"Let's get this over with, Granger," he said, staring her directly in the eye. Though he said it in a rather low voice, almost the whole silent Great Hall was able to hear him.

She scowled at him as she took his hand, not as nervous anymore. Both of them pretended not to feel the sensation that occurred at the contact. "Don't trip, Malfoy." Small laughs were heard throughout the room. Professor McGonagall was displeased by their impoliteness to each other, but let it go.

They made their way to the center as the music started. And then they danced. When he stepped forward, she stepped back. When he decided to twirl her, she gave him a glare, but couldn't do anything else but twirl. The two of them moved across the dance floor in a surprisingly graceful way. Everyone in the room watched their every move.

Draco had a confident look on his face, but inside he was going insane. He was holding her hand and _waist_. It'd probably be the easiest thing in the world to just pull her closer and kiss her, but he obviously could not do that. No sir.

He tried to forget that it was _her_ he was dancing with. He tried to forget the way it felt to kiss her or the feeling he got in his stomach whenever she was around. He tried to forget the fire in her eyes, how she bit her lip whenever she was scared or anxious, the way her face lit up when she read something interesting in a book, how she twirled her hair when deep in thought, the way she spoke to him when she was angry, and the smile that crept up on her face when she came up with a clever comeback that shut him up.

When he noticed that many people joined in and started dancing, he let go of her. That same thing swirled in his eyes, but disappeared within a second.

That's when an annoying cackle echoed through the Great Hall. Everyone already knew who it was.

"Peeves," Hermione said.

The ghost flew around the room and stopped above Draco and Hermione.

"Oh, the two little Heads. Malfoy and Granger. Pureblood and Mudblood," Peeves said. The two of them looked up confusedly. Everyone in the room stopped dancing and watched the situation at hand.

"I'm gonna let the Bloody Baron have a word with you if you don't get out," Draco yelled, pulling out his wand for the sake of looking dangerous.

"Well, this should be interesting," Peeves laughed as he unclasped his hand, revealing a mistletoe.

Hermione caught on quickly and gasped, turned around, and tried to run away. The ghost appeared in front of her, wagging his finger. "Nah, ah, ah, Miss Granger." He made movements with his hands. Hermione got pushed back forcefully into Draco.

"No. _No_. Absolutely not," she said. "Peeves, get out of here right now."

Draco wondered how the ghost didn't fly away from that tone. It was rather scary.

"Are you daft, mudblood?" Peeves shook the mistletoe he was holding above their heads. Draco wished he was able to punch a ghost. "It's a bloody mistletoe, you twat. Kiss, kiss, kiss!"

A circle slowly started forming around Draco and Hermione, angering them further.

"Are _you_ daft? She's _Granger_," Draco said.

"And he's _Malfoy_," Hermione added. It was reason enough.

"I am very pleased to know that you understand what each other's names are. Now, get on with it."

"There is no way in hell that is going to happen," Draco said, turning and walking away. Peeves did the same thing and pushed him back into Hermione. "What is your bloody problem?"

"I haven't been able to have any fun all day. And _you two_ made sure that happened. This is what you get." He cackled annoyingly.

"No!" Hermione yelled.

"_Peeves_!" Professor McGonagall's amplified voice projected from the stage. "Get out of here this instant! Do you not remember what the Bloody Baron said he was going to do if you came in here?"

Peeves shivered, but then laughed again. He let the mistletoe float in the air, cast some kind of spell on it, and flew away laughing.

Hermione looked up at the mistletoe and carefully took several steps back. She almost smiled when nothing happened, but then made a surprised noise when she found herself being slammed into Draco again.

"Are you _fucking_ serious?"

"Mister Malfoy, language," Professor McGonagall scolded, having heard him from the stage. She hurriedly walked to where they were standing and started casting spells at the mistletoe to try and get the magic Peeves cast on it to disappear. "Oh, God. I don't even know what kind of magic he put on that thing."

"What are you saying?" Hermione asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"Well, to know that whatever spell he cast on it disappeared, the mistletoe must drop," McGonagall said. She gave her a look that said, _'I'm terribly sorry. I'll give you an A on your next Transfiguration test.'_

Her jaw dropped.

Many people in the circle around them laughed at her reaction. Harry and Ron scowled, while Ginny looked rather smug. Pansy's immature complaining was able to be heard from somewhere in the crowd. Blaise smirked, loving the scene unfolding in front of him. Everyone else simply watched, waiting for them to suck it up and _kiss_.

"This is ridiculous," Draco muttered.

"Really, now?" Hermione snapped sarcastically.

"It's not my fault, Granger. Don't start yelling at me now."

"I'm not yelling!" she said, clearly yelling. People in the crowd laughed.

Draco smirked.

"You _always_ do that! You constantly smirk whenever I'm frustrated and stressed. Are you not going mad at this yourself? Do you _realize_ what needs to take place in order for us to be able to get away from each other?" Full out yelling now. Definitely.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." Draco rolled his eyes. He hid the panic he felt inside very well. Extremely well so far.

Hermione looked at him funny. "You're not the same when in front of other people, you know that?" He shifted. She was blowing his cover. This could not happen. "You look at me differently, act differently, and talk to me differently. You're expression is confident, but I know you're just hiding something and covering it up with all the insults and sarcasm you say to me."

It was completely silent in the Great Hall when she said this.

"You act like more of a know-it-all in front of people, Granger. Wow, you're pretty damn _special_ to figure that out about me. So now, you have to let the whole world know about something new you found out because that's who you _are_. You need to constantly remind everybody that you know more than them and it's bloody _annoying_."

"Malfoy, that's not true and you know it," Hermione said, pointing a stiff finger at him. "Because you've _done_ something that no one else knows about. And I certainly don't spread that to the whole world." She was talking about the time her and him snogged.

"That's different because you don't want people to know either."

Everyone watching them were wondering the same thing: _What'd he do?_

It was silent for several moments before Hermione spoke again. "Hurry up and do it."

"Why can't you?"

"You're the guy. _You_ lean." Many of the girls in the crowd nodded and quietly agreed.

He swallowed.

Hermione's expression changed to a slightly nervous one. An uneasy feeling filled her stomach and she really wished that no one was watching them. He'd already be kissing her right now.

Draco brought his face closer to hers. The crowd shifted and girls put hands over their mouths to silence their squeals. "It's gonna be difficult to stop, Granger," he whispered low enough that only she could hear him.

Hermione glanced at his lips, then looked back at his eyes. "Well, you're going to have to," she managed to choke out.

He put his hand on the nape of her neck. She took in a sharp breath. Draco then leaned in, leaving their lips a centimeter apart. He remained there for a few moments, nervous. Yes, Draco Malfoy was _nervous_.

"Hurry up," she breathed.

"You better be able to stop me," he whispered lowly again.

"How--"

Hermione wasn't able to say anymore, for he leaned in the rest of the way and landed his lips on hers. Whispers and squeals erupted from the crowd around them, but neither of them were able to hear it.

A pleasant sensation ran throughout her body. This kiss was quite soft, unlike the first one they shared. However, it was passionate and romantic and it placed butterflies in her stomach. She felt his hand slide around her waist and the kiss started to get too serious.

But Draco was the one who stopped. He let go and backed away from her with an unreadable expression on his face. Then, he turned around and walked straight out of the Great Hall. Everyone stared as he did so. Blaise quickly exited as well.

Hermione stayed, glued to that same spot, feeling as if she were going to faint. Draco Malfoy just kissed her in front of the whole school under a magical mistletoe.

And all she wanted to do was run after him and kiss him again.

- x -

**A/N: It's been awhile, huh? But I haven't abandoned this fic and I probably never will. So you shouldn't even worry about that. I'm sure most of you are getting used to my wide range of updating patterns. (:**

**This chapter really wasn't that interesting, but I hope the end was for you. The Ball will continue on in the next chapter, too. The next one is the chapter I couldn't wait to write, but unfortunately, I can't start it right now. :(**

**I'll try updating as soon as I can! I always do. Thank you, my wonderful readers for sticking with me for this long. Please review! You people inspire me. ;)**


	13. Twenty Questions

_Chapter 12  
Twenty Questions_

Hermione composed herself and looked around at everyone watching her. She faltered a bit from the attention. She spotted Ginny in the crowd. The redhead smiled and walked over to her. She was probably one of the girls that squealed.

It was then that Professor McGonagall realized that the music had stopped and signaled for Flitwick to start playing again. He nodded and did so. Soon, everyone went on and continued the Christmas Ball.

"You all right?" Ginny asked, still beaming.

Hermione, on the other hand, looked as if she were going to be sick. It took her quite a few seconds to answer, but Ginny understood. She was still shocked.

"I don't know," was the answer she was able to get out. She looked over her shoulder at the doors.

What a bloody _coward_! He kissed her... like that and then just walked out without saying anything! She had to face the humiliation _alone_ after he exited. What was his problem? Did he really think that she would let him _walk away_ like that without an explanation? Now he was just stupid.

Ginny was about to say something, but Hermione interrupted her. "Sorry, Ginny, but I have to go... do something." She walked around her friend and started walking out of the Great Hall, getting angrier and angrier every step she took. The redhead smiled as Hermione stormed out.

When Hermione was out of the Great Hall, she saw him. He was quite a few feet away, leaning his forehead against the wall and muttering incomprehensibly. Hearing the doors open, he looked at her and twisted his face into an expression that read, _'I don't want you here.'_

She walked swiftly to him. "Your mind is that of a _troll's_ if you thought you could walk away from me, after that, without saying a thing." Her voice was in the yelling pitch and an intimidating finger was pointed in his face.

"What am I supposed to say?" he asked through clenched teeth. She had to get away from him before he did something that was not supposed to happen.

It took a second for Hermione to answer. "_Everything_!" she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

"What do you mean 'everything'? _Everything_ is said. Get away from me, Granger."

"You know that's a lie, Drac--" She stopped abruptly and swallowed. "Er, Malfoy." Draco stared at her incredulously, not believing what he heard -- well, _almost_ heard.

"I don't know anything anymore," he said lowly.

She sighed at his stubbornness as an idea popped into her head. "Let's play Twenty Questions," Hermione said suddenly, crossing her arms. What she was really saying was, _"You're giving me answers whether you like it or not."_

"I play that game everyday with you," he told her, scowling. "Go back inside." It was useless to even say it because he knew she wasn't going in without some answers. But he needed to be away from her. For at least a little while. She was making him go crazy and confused and he needed time to settle down.

"Why do you still have the bracelet on?" she asked stiffly. **(1)** It hasn't been mentioned in so long that she almost forgot about it. Her arms were still crossed and the fire in her eyes was very present.

He groaned childishly, not wanting to play this game at all. There was no use fighting with her, since it would just make this whole encounter longer, which he certainly didn't need right now. "I don't _know_."

"You know I'm not taking that answer. I know you know why." She propped a hand on her hip. Her voice sounded unusually like a mother scolding her child.

He glared at her and ran his fingers through his hair. Frustration was very present on his face. "It reminds me that I'm not like my father. Keeping a promise, being _friends_ with... people like you," he said rather coldly. Hermione sneered at him for that, but noticeably softened a little bit at his answer.

"How are you feeling right now?" **(2)**

"How do you think I'm feeling right now, Granger?" When she stayed staring at him with a serious stare, he sighed. "Humiliated." He practically spit in her face because of the way he spat it out. "Confused."

"About what?" she asked without thinking. **(3)**

This time, he smirked. "That counts as a question. And you can't take it back."

Hermione sighed. "Fair enough."

It took him a moment to answer. "You." It surprised her how his eyes were still locked with hers and didn't look elsewhere.

"Why are you confused about me?" **(4)** Again, without thinking. But this would also be nice to know.

"Because you're oddly difficult to figure out. I don't bloody understand you."

Hermione sighed, not comprehending why she was so difficult. "Do you remember anything from when you were drunk?" she asked. **(5)**

Draco stiffened. That night was never mentioned before and it felt odd having it brought up. "Just a little bit."

"Like what?" **(6)** Damn it, he'd make that count as a question also. She should be more careful with this game. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He'll never answer questions like these again.

"How I snogged that girl, literally ran into you, and that you took... me back to the castle."

"You don't remember any conversations or anything else that happened?" **(7)** God, these questions were just coming out.

"Nothing." He didn't lie, but he wished he knew more. An image of her hunched over the bed, sitting in a chair, and sleeping on her arms appeared in his mind.

Hermione almost sighed with relief, and Draco looked at her skeptically. Now _he_ wanted to ask questions, but of course couldn't.

"Is it you who looks at me in class?" **(8)** Because of his eyes, she immediately knew the answer.

He was staring at her with much intensity. "You already know. I see it," he said, glancing away for just a second.

Surprise showed on her face. Did they really spend _that_ much time together that they knew each other this well? Or were they that interested in one another that they studied each other's facial expressions that much?

It then hit Hermione that she knew a great deal about Draco Malfoy. Such as how he tends to stare at a random spot on the floor or table when he's deep in thought. Or how when he was mad, but didn't want to show it, he wouldn't speak or he'd run his fingers through his hair in the most casual manner he could. She even noticed how he arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast just a few minutes after she did. He seemed to glance at her, as if to check that she was there. Then, he'd look back at his seat with that unreadable expression on his face as he ate his food calmly.

When they would work together in class, he'd look at her for a while, then look away with an expression that says, _'What the hell is going on?'_ She knew how he sounded when he was in a particularly good mood(which she hasn't heard in a while), and his tone of voice when he was neutral and calm. His angry voice was easy for everyone to identify.

He tended to walk faster when he was mad. She found times when the wall that seemed to be put in front of his eyes to make him unreadable wasn't present. Those are moments when she searches through them as much as she could.

It was odd that she was feeling how she's feeling for him. She got butterflies whenever he entered the room or he would say something to her. But they weren't even exactly _polite_ to each other. If anything, they tried to show hate to the other as much as they could. In Muggle books and movies, the girl would always get excited and get butterflies when a boy smiled at them. With Hermione, it was different because Draco never even _smiled_. She had no idea what it was about him that made her feel like this. And no books or movies could give her the answer to that.

"How'd you feel when you saw me in first year?" **(9)**

This was like torture. "I felt a lot of different things, Granger." Flashes of that year passed through his head.

"Expand."

He groaned again. "_Everything_. I was happy that all my bloody years of hoping you were a witch was true, mad because you already made new fucking friends when I was going to talk to you again, frustrated because I actually _missed_ you, and sad because you'd look at me as if I was a bloody piece of dirt."

"If you felt all those things, why didn't you just _talk_ to me?" she asked, her voice getting closer and closer to yelling by the second. **(10)**

It was common sense. Did he not even care to think how _she_ felt when she first saw him?

He raised his voice to be as loud as hers. "I _tried_, but you and your bloody friends were inseparable. There wasn't a time when you weren't together."

"In the beginning of the year," Hermione pointed out, "I wasn't friends with Harry or Ron yet. I was alone. I was _just like_ I was when you left! I needed someone to talk to and I knew you saw me."

"Then, I don't know. That was all the way in first year. Next question. This one was answered enough," he said. "You're on your eleventh question."

Hermione was about to disagree, but realized that it was probably true. She forgot to keep count.

Taking a breath, she got out her next question. "How do you feel about me, Malfoy?" **(11)**

Something caught in Draco's throat, which kept him from breathing for quite a few seconds. The lump wouldn't go away no matter how much he swallowed. Did she really ask him that?

His mind seemed to shut down and he lost the ability to talk, or even move. Everything started spinning, but the only thing clear in his vision was her.

"W-what?" he stuttered. This must be a serious moment, for _Draco Malfoy_ just stuttered. He must have not heard her right.

Her voice rose. "You heard me, Malfoy. _How do you feel about me_?" She took an intimidating step closer to him.

He felt as if he was going to faint. "What do you mean?" he choked. Now he was _choking_? This was not Malfoy behavior and he didn't quite enjoy the fact that _she_ was bringing it out of him.

She got even more impatient. "You know _exactly_ what I mean. You became uncomfortable, your eyes shifted in a way that was troubled, and you can barely hold yourself up." She was referring to the fact that he was leaning on the wall. "Every time you look at me, I feel the intensity of your gaze and I know there's _something_ going on. "

Draco felt awkward at how knowledgeable she was about him. "Nothing." His eyes looked elsewhere.

Hermione's hand made its way to his jaw and turned his head to lock with his eyes. They looked completely different from how they did before. That unknown something was swirling in them, along with confusion.

"Look me in the eye," she said quieter than she was before. His grey ones were already searching her honey-brown eyes. "Can you still tell me you feel nothing?" **(12)**

Draco's breathing got heavier. His body was getting weaker and it was hard to control the new emotions swirling in his eyes.

All he wanted to do was pull her closer and kiss her. He wished he could be weak and just do it. At that moment, he wished that their bloodlines weren't different. Or that there was no discrimination against blood in the Wizarding World. He wished that no one would judge him, make fun of him, and try and beat him up if Hermione and he were... something. He wanted to be able to not care what everyone thought. If he was able to do that, the kiss under the mistletoe wouldn't have taken as long as it did. He wished that he wasn't born to hate people like her because what he's been feeling was the complete opposite of that.

But Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger? It just didn't mesh well together. They were people sworn to be enemies and that's how it had to be. Nothing more could happen, no matter how much he wished that something could.

He could lie fairly well. Which means he would be able to lie, looking her in the eye, right?

"I feel nothing." His voice was strong, not one falter or flaw. His eyes were able to stare straight into hers without glancing away even for a second. It was a perfect lie. It made his insides twist up.

Her hand dropped to her side. Obvious hurt appeared everywhere: her eyes, face, shoulders, posture.

"Are you lying?" she muttered. **(13)** Tears shined in her eyes. Any second now, she'd lose it. And honestly, she didn't really care.

Draco's chest hurt. He needed to get away from her. "No," he replied in an equally strong voice as before. Another perfect lie. Whatever was making his insides twist before was pulling them right out of his body now.

Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Hermione was weak and vulnerable in front of Draco. He was watching her cry and not even _doing_ anything.

She hit his shoulder as hard as she could. He stepped back, surprised at the impact. "Then _why_ did you kiss me the first time in the library, huh, Malfoy?" **(14)** She hit him again, tears streaming down her face. "Why is it that _every time_ you look at me, you appear to be _miserable_?" **(15)**

He grabbed each of her hands with his and squeezed so she wouldn't be able to hit him again. "What happened in the library was what you basically _told_ me to do, if you don't remember." He kept his hands firmly grasped around hers as she tried wrestling her way out. "And I look at you that way because I simply _am_ miserable."

"Tell me _why_ you're miserable. Tell me what I'm doing that's making you feel this way. I'm _tired_ of this. I just want to figure it out..." She was still wrestling to hit him again, but he was clearly stronger than her. She sounded so restless and fed up, as if she was sick of the world.

When he didn't say anything, she asked, "Why aren't you taking your chance, Draco?" **(16)** Hermione threw her hands down, giving up and causing him to let go. Her tears were coming out one after the other. She didn't even bother to wipe them.

He couldn't help it. It was like a reflex. His hands reached out and cupped around her face, his thumb wiping her tears away. "There _is_ no chance, Hermione. Don't you understand that?" he said frustratedly.

"_Yes_, there is! Do you not see what is right in front of you?" **(17)** She brought her hands up to his wrists and pulled his hands away from her face to show him that she was most certainly _there_.

"It can't _happen_!" Draco said, growing tired of repeating himself.

"Why _not_?" she asked frantically, throwing his hands down, out of her grasp. **(18)**

"Because it's impossible! How do you think that would work out? Nothing works out with me."

"How do you know this time won't be different?" **(19)**

"It wouldn't be, Granger," he stated, looking down at the ground. Did she not sense how crazy he was going inside?

No one said anything for a while. Her sobbing and sniffing was making all of this harder because all he wanted to do was hold her until all her tears dried up and everything was okay.

What was this? He _never_ felt this feeling before. He didn't know what to do. He actually felt _hurt_. Like someone was piercing a knife in his chest and twisting it. He wanted to die so he wouldn't have to feel it anymore. Everything Hermione said was ringing through his head like a never-ending recording.

But he was doing the right thing. They would be simply wasting their time if anything between them happened. Hermione didn't deserve him anyway. She should be with a better person who hasn't gone through so much rubbish in his life. She deserved to have someone who knew what they were doing and didn't have any problems with rivalries.

"Are you sure?" **(20)** Hermione was out of questions.

Draco looked up at her and kept her gaze. Just one more perfect lie to go and it was going to be over.

He took a breath and prepared himself for the worst. "Yes," he said. Another perfect lie with no flaws or falters.

Right when she turned away from him and sobbed in her hands, Draco fell against the wall, currently unable to hold himself up. This was the most most powerful pain he's ever felt in all his life. He looked down at his right wrist at the green and silver bracelet. There was only one more thing he needed to do.

She was watching him from the corner of her tear-filled eyes. He wasn't going to do it. He _couldn't_ do it. That was what started this whole thing and he couldn't just --

Then, he did it. He ripped the threads off of his wrist and let it drop to the ground. Draco just tore away the only promise that he was ever able to keep.

Hermione stormed away, feeling as if her heart was just ripped out of her chest.

- x -

**A/N: Don't hate me. :(**

**If it makes you feel any better, this was the fastest update I've done in a super long time. Two weeks compared to a month or so. Fast update? I think so. (:**

**Now please review and tell me what you think!**


	14. Rubbish

_Chapter 13_

_Rubbish_

Hermione didn't return to the Ball.

Draco did, for at least _one_ of them had to be there or else Professor McGonagall would be furious. He walked around the room as if he was checking to see that everything was working fine and was in perfect order. His mind was still thinking about what just happened and wondered if he _did_ do the right thing. He made himself think that it was because… there wasn't any excuse, it _was_ the right thing, wasn't it?

After his umpteenth walk around the Hall, he stopped at the refreshments table and got himself some pumpkin juice. His eyes were looking towards the dance floor, at all the happy people, but they were unfocused. It looked as if he was looking into a different world.

Before he knew it, a redheaded girl appeared in front of him with a cup in her hand also. He knew what was coming up already.

"Malfoy, do you know where Hermione is? She's not here and I know she should be… or _has_ to be anyway," Ginny said, taking a sip of her drink.

Draco's eyes focused, but he didn't move his head to face hers. He didn't make any movements at all. "How would I know?" His voice was strained and not his usual cold tone.

She looked at him skeptically, taking another sip. Then, she sighed, putting her cup on the table. She propped a hand on her hip and the tone of her voice signaled that she was ready for a big conversation.

"What happened?" Ginny asked, her stare not quite as intimating as Hermione's could be. Her voice wasn't as demanding and smooth at the same time like Hermione's. The stance she was standing in didn't match her as much as it did when Hermione stood in that way. That's all he could hear in his head right now: _Hermione, Hermione, Hermione…_ She was bloody taking over his thoughts.

"That's none of your business, is it, Weasley?"

"Does it count that she's my best friend?"

"No." Draco turned and started walking away from the girl, but she followed.

"All right, if it really went that bad, would you want me to her side of the story or yours? I guarantee that you'll sound more of a jerk when she tells it."

"I'll seem like a jerk either way since she's probably going to tell you anyway. Does it make a difference?"

"Yes, actually. I can base whatever she tells me on what you may or may not say and I'll balance it out so you won't seem _that_ bad."

"That sounds ridiculous."

"You're right. It does," she admitted shamefully. "Can you just tell me if you really hurt her or not?"

He stopped, a scene of the conversation him and Hermione just had flashing through his mind. He actually felt _guilty_ for making her feel that way and cry that much. They basically admitted to each other that they had these strong feelings, though it was in the most unobvious way.

"_Why aren't you taking your chance, Draco?"_

Those words hurt him more than he could imagine. There _was_ a chance and he _didn't_ take it because he was absolutely _stupid_ and _proud_. He was ashamed of the fact that he actually _did_ want to be with her and that is definitely something she did not deserve. Which is why she'd be better off without him. Why did she even want to waste her time with someone like him anyway?

"I'll take that as a yes," Ginny said, snapping Draco out of his thoughts. He must have been silent for a long time. "And by that guilty look on your face, she's probably crying. Am I right?" Her voice was softer and more serious, realizing that this whole thing was bigger than she thought.

Draco looked at Ginny and she stared at him for a few seconds. She tilted her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. Ginny had this amazing talent of being able to read almost anyone's expressions.

"You broke her heart, didn't you?" she said, her tone a bit angrier than before.

He broke eye contact with her and looked down at the ground.

"_What_ did you say to her?"

"A lot of things. Give me some space, Weasley." He turned and started walking away from the girl.

"Whatever you said to her that caused you to break her heart, it'll take a long time to fix," Ginny warned, turning around as well and walking back to her friends. She would have went to Hermione, who was probably in the dormitory already, but decided that like Draco, she needed a little time alone.

"I'm not going to be the one to fix it," he muttered guiltily, when she was already out of earshot.

- x -

Hermione didn't storm away to the dormitory, though. She went outside, where she was able to breathe in cold fresh air. It was winter and she wasn't wearing any sort of sweater over her dress, but she didn't care. The cold weather numbed every part of her body except the part that needed it the most. Her heart remained shattered. She still felt the pain even though she couldn't move anything else.

Her tears were icy as they ran down her face. The light make-up around her eyes left a gray trail down her cheeks and parts of her hair were out of place. She was a mess.

The ground had a light layer of snow over it, but that didn't stop her from dropping to her knees on it. She gasped from the coldness, but didn't get up.

Why wasn't he there right now? Why wasn't he being the person she knew he could be by running after her? Why was he so _stupid_?

"_There _is_ no chance, Hermione. Don't you understand that?"_

What in Merlin's name was he talking about? The war was over. People may still be keen on the idea that purebloods are better than muggleborns, but what did it matter? Sure, Harry and Ron would have wanted to murder him if they found out about everything, but who cares? The whole world could disagree with the idea of Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger and she wouldn't care, but he _did_.

What was the matter with him? Tearing the bracelet off his wrist and letting it drop to the ground. Did he _want_ to break her heart? Was this his bloody _plan_ all along? Get close to the "mudblood" and turn her down painfully in the end? That was probably it. He was still the same. She was stupid to think that he would _ever _change in his life. He was always going to be the same Draco Malfoy who didn't care about her at all and talked about her to his friends. Of course he couldn't ruin his precious reputation. Now _she_ felt stupid.

Merlin knows how long she was out in the freezing cold, but after a long time, Hermione decided to wipe her tears and get herself off the ground. She couldn't feel her body as it shivered uncontrollably. Everything was cold and numb. She felt as if she was going to collapse during every step she took. Hermione started rubbing her hands together to create a little heat, but she could barely even feel that. The beat of her heart seemed to be faster than normal. With much difficulty, she forced herself into the warmth of the castle.

The sharp temperature change instantly comforted her whole body, making her feel tingly from head to toe. She was shaking while silent tears made their way down her face. She felt lightheaded and suddenly had a feeling that she was going to faint.

"Hermione?" a familiar concerned voice said questioningly.

Her lips were too numb too speak. Her heart was beating at an incredibly fast pace and felt too weak to hold herself up.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled frantically, running up to Hermione and holding her up. Her breathing was quick and shallow.

"Gin?" Harry said, appearing around a corner. A look of worriment etched itself on his face as he ran over to her also. "What the hell happened to her?"

"She's shivering. Give her your cloak."

As Harry was taking off his dress robes, the pain in her body began to fade away.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Ginny asked. It got harder to hold her up.

Hermione's vision got blurry. She wasn't holding herself up anymore.

"Talk to us, please," Harry said desperately, draping his dress robes around her shoulders.

Ginny looked behind her, hearing footsteps.

The last thing Hermione saw was a flash of platinum blonde hair, appearing around the corner of the corridor. She felt that painful pang in her heart only for a moment before it finally disappeared as she slipped into unconsciousness.

- x -

"_Me? What the hell do I have to do with this?"_

"_You have everything to do with this, you git! Pick her up and take her to the infirmary!"_

Hermione was slipping in and out of consciousness as she felt a pair of strong arms lift her up from the ground. She was only able to get brief flashes of the scenes unfolding before she became unconscious again.

"_Oh, dear, what on earth happened to our Miss Granger?"_

She was laid in a bed, then became unconscious.

"_Is she going to be okay?"_

Glass bottles were heard clacking next to each other and Madam Pomfrey's footsteps were hurried. Unconscious.

"_How is all this my fault? How was I supposed to know that she'd want to freeze to death after talking to me?"_

"_Mister Malfoy, put your cloak on top of her. She's going to need as much warmth as she can get."_

She felt warmer and more comfortable. Unconscious.

"_Are you mad? You _know_ you have feeling for her. You _know_ what you want. Why don't you stop being a prat and just do what _you _want to do?"_

"_It's not that easy, _Weasley_."_

"_She's going through a mild case of hypothermia because of you, you know that?"_

"_Shut it, Potter. I'm not daft. Pomfrey just told us that."_

"_Stop your bickering! Now, she's going to need some of this to help lower her body temperature."_

Liquid was forced down her throat when she became unconscious again.

"_Weasley, that has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard."_

"_Even Harry sees it! Don't you, Harry?"_

"_Well… _now_ I do."_

"_Every time you look at her, you look as if you're dying to hold her, to be with her!"_

"_I can't believe we're talking to Malfoy about being with Hermione."_

"_I still don't understand why we're still talking about it since there's no chance of that _ever_ happening."_

"_Malfoy, I want you to look me directly in both eyes and tell me with the surest voice you can speak with that you are not in love with her."_

"_I can't."_

Unconscious.

"_I'm leaving."_

"_No, you're not, Malfoy. We still need to talk about this."_

"_What else do we need to talk about? What else do you need to know? I already admitted it. Isn't that enough?"_

"_I just need you to say, 'I, Draco Malfoy, am in love with Hermione Granger.' Just in case you ever deny it or lie. It's for the records. Harry, you're not leaving either."_

"_No. I'm leaving, Weasley."_

"_I'll hex you."_

"_You know, Malfoy, I do think you deserve one of her Bat-Bogey Hexes, but I feel the need to tell you that they're not pretty."_

"_Well, she's sort of known for it, Potter."_

"_I'm just warning you."_

"_Hush, Harry. Malfoy needs to speak now."_

Unconscious.

- x -

Hermione woke up the next morning, feeling tremendously weak and helpless. She pushed the two cloaks and blanket over her away from her body because she was sweating.

She looked at her surroundings and slowly processed through her mind that she was in the Hospital Wing. Little flashes of the night before entered her mind. She barely remembered what was said when she was slipping in and out of consciousness. All she could recall was how cold she was and how good it felt to be carried by Draco.

There was a pang in her heart when she thought about him. She felt like crying all over again. Then, she remembered going outside in the freezing cold weather and staying out there for Merlin knows how long.

Why did he cause her to do such stupid things?

She felt sicker and sicker as she thought about it. Her muscles were so weak that just turning her head to the side was a difficult task. Somebody had entered the Hospital Wing and she waited for the person to come into her view.

"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed as she hurriedly went over to her friend. "You're awake!"

She realized that talking took much energy out of her also.

"What time is it?" Her voice was hoarse.

"It's four o'clock in the afternoon," the redhead replied, smiling at the fact that her friend was doing better. Ginny held up the items in her hands. "I brought you some clothes in case you wanted to change."

Hermione looked down at herself and saw that she was still wearing her dress from yesterday. It stuck oddly to her skin because she was sweating.

"Thank you," she said, barely being able to smile.

"Now, what happened last night? Why did you decide to go outside and get hypothermia?"

"Hypothermia?" Hermione asked, shocked at the word. "I--"

"Yes. It was only a mild case since we got your body temperature to rise a little bit before you fainted." She sat down on the chair next to Hermione's bed. "Anyway, onto more important things. What happened?"

Her heart seemed to break once again just thinking about the encounter with Draco yesterday. She looked away from Ginny.

"A lot."

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey came to check on her and made a small sound when she realized Hermione was awake.

"Oh, Miss Granger! I didn't know you awoke already!" The mediwitch poured some fluid into a small cup and gave it to Hermione. "Drink this. Your muscles need to wake up a little bit. I assume you feel rather weak right now."

Hermione nodded as she swallowed the bitter liquid down in one gulp, making a sour face afterwards. Madam Pomfrey took the glass from her and went away to the storage cabinets to fetch something else.

Ron them came into the infirmary, already talking, for he knew that Ginny was there.

"Oi, Ginny, did you finish-- Hermione!" he said, relief showing on his face. The ill girl tried her best to smile as Ron made his way toward her bed. "It's about time you woke up. Was so worried about you this morning. A couple _people_ didn't even bother to tell me that one of my best friends was in the Hospital Wing last night." He looked accusingly at Ginny.

"You were having a lot of fun at the Ball! I didn't want to kill your mood."

"If something is wrong with Hermione, _killing my mood_ is the least of my worries."

Hermione desperately wanted to laugh, but didn't have the energy to. Madam Pomfrey came over to her again, telling her than she had a fever and that she should stay and rest for all of today. She then left, disappearing into her office.

"Ginny, have you finished packing?" Ron asked.

Hermione's eyes widened. She had totally forgotten that she should be leaving for home today to spend Christmas with her family.

"That's today," she whispered to herself.

"What's today?" Ginny said confusedly.

"I need to leave. I _have_ to go back home," Hermione said, her voice stronger now. She swung her legs slowly and weakly off her bed. Ron and Ginny were about to say something, but she interrupted them. "She can't expect me to stay in the Hospital Wing all day. I _have_ to leave today."

Madam Pomfrey was out of her office already while Hermione was walking towards her.

"Miss Granger, you need to rest! Your body is very, very weak and it needs to stay in bed." She started leading her to the bed again, but Hermione stopped in her tracks.

"I need to go home, Madam Pomfrey."

"No, you don't, Miss Granger. Not today. Your body really needs the rest. It doesn't have the energy to spend hours on a train." The mediwitch had a sorry expression on her face. "You can't be outside in the cold until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's Christmas!" Hermione argued. "You don't understand. I really need to be home."

"You can go home tomorrow by floo. I can arrange something with Professor McGonagall," she assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder as if to calm her.

"I want to wake up at my house on Christmas. I don't want to just arrive there."

"I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but if your body doesn't get enough rest, you're fever will rise and everything will get worse. Especially out in the cold weather." Madam Pomfrey dropped her hand from Hermione's shoulder, getting a little annoyed.

"I had a whole plan! It needs to go perfectly. This is the last Christmas I'll be able to spend with my dad. Please, I need to go. I feel better already." It wasn't a lie actually, since she felt a little stronger because of the potion she just drank.

Madam Pomfrey's face showed sadness when Hermione mentioned the piece of information about her dad. "It can wait until tomorrow."

Hermione stared at her, not wanting to argue anymore. She then turned around and went grudgingly to the bed she was just laying in. Ron and Ginny both looked upset themselves.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Ginny said, truly concerned.

"It's not your fault," she muttered back, thinking about Draco again.

The doors opened again and Hermione prepared herself to say hi to Harry. Until Madam Pomfrey acknowledged the person who just came through by saying the name that made her want to die.

"Mister Malfoy, finally you've come back. What did Professor McGonagall say?" she asked.

"The supply of healing potions will arrive in about three days by owl," he told her, while taking a double take at Hermione's awake form. She was looking down at her hands.

"Splendid! Thank you," she said, hurrying back to the cabinets of potions.

"Malfoy, have you seen Harry around?" Ginny asked him, making him look over at the three of them. He couldn't help but look at Hermione, who was standing up now with clothes in her hands. She walked past him to the lavatory to change.

He glanced back at her, then looked at Ginny again. "No."

She waited until Hermione was in the lavatory with the door closed before she said something else.

"What're you going to do?" she asked him.

He looked taken aback by the sudden question. Didn't they discuss her enough already the night before?

"Nothing."

"You can't do that."

"I think he can," Ron interjected. Harry and Ginny informed him of everything that's been happening lately with Draco and Hermione and he didn't fancy the idea one bit.

Ginny glared at Ron. "You have to. Did you see her face?"

"Yes, but I'm not doing anything. I can't anymore."

"Everything is going downhill for her now. Madam Pomfrey just told her that she can't go back home today and Hermione had this whole plan for tomorrow morning. It's the last Christmas she'll be able to spend with her dad."

"What?" Draco asked, surprised. The last Christmas she'll be able to spend with her dad?

"Yeah, her dad has cancer. He -- wait, she hasn't told you?"

Everything was clicking together now. The time she came to patrols crying, the way she would just give up when arguing with him, how her eyes always had that sadness in them that never seemed to go away, the way she'd walk into the Great Hall for breakfast on some mornings and sit down, not saying anything to her friends. Everything made _sense_ now.

He's been going mad, trying to figure out why she always had that emotion in her eye. Why didn't she just tell him when he was being such a prat to her when she came to patrols crying? Why did she have to keep it from him for so long? He wouldn't have been as difficult if she just told him.

Hermione came out of the bathroom, wearing muggle clothing with a cloak over it that looked much more comfortable than the dress in her hands.

He started panicking in his head when he realized she was wearing the cloak he put over her last night when Madam Pomfrey told him to.

"Why didn't you tell me that your dad was sick?" he asked her.

Hermione stopped abruptly in her steps. She glared at Ginny, who had a guilty expression on her face.

"I _did_ tell you. When I came to patrols late on your birthday. Remember?" she said, trying to keep her voice from faltering. She wasn't ready to talk to him so soon.

"You just told me he was sick. As if he had a cold or fever or something, Granger."

"I'm sure you remember me _crying_ about it, Malfoy. I wouldn't have done that if he just had a cold. Even _you_ know that."

"Maybe you would have. I didn't know you _that_ well."

"Why do you even care?" Hermione asked, ice in her voice. She wanted him to leave right now. Why was he still here? There was no reason for him to talk to her now that he ripped the bracelet off his wrist.

_Because he's in love with you, Hermione. How do you not see that?_ Ginny desperately wanted to say what she was thought, but it wasn't her place to.

Did she not see the look in his eyes right now? He wasn't even trying to mask the feelings he felt at the moment.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair frustrated. He didn't know how to answer that question.

"It's just something you should have at least _mentioned_."

"I _did_ mention it."

"Something you should have cleared up! You know what I bloody mean."

"What good would it have done if I told you? It's my business and I'll tell whoever I want to." She crossed her arms over her chest. The expression on the girl's face was so unlike her.

_Because I fucking care. _But he couldn't tell her that.

"It would have made things a little easier."

"A little _easier_? How would it have done that? Because of you, there's a colossal amount of things that aren't _easier_ at all. Setting schedules for patrols, discussing things for the school, doing every one of our Head Boy and Girl duties. How would telling you about my dad make those things _easier_?" she explained, using her fingers to count out all the things she said.

She didn't understand what he meant. It would have been easier for _him_ because if he knew that, he wouldn't have been going absolutely mad trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

When he didn't say anything, Hermione added, "Because of you, things are harder now. I'm in the Hospital Wing until tomorrow -- _Christmas -- _and all the plans made to make the day go by perfectly are ruined. Instead of getting up in the morning at my house and making breakfast for my parents, I'll be here. Instead of seeing the look on my dad's face when he sees the present I got him, I'll probably just start packing. Instead of watching a winter movie while eating popcorn and getting warmed by the fire, I'll just arrive there. Instead of the perfect, last Christmas I planned to make special for my dad, it'll be just a normal holiday for me. Even you should know that I'm crazy about making sure my plans go by flawlessly."

"You're blaming me for _all_ of that?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Not exactly. Just what lead up to causing my plans to be ruined."

He ran his fingers through his hair again and Hermione had to look away. She still found that habit fairly attractive.

"Forget it, Hermione. Just forget everything. That'll probably make it _easier_ for you."

She flinched at how he called her by her first name. "That's the hardest part."

"Then, that's too fucking bad," he muttered.

Hermione glared at him with so much intensity that he almost looked away.

"Go away. And have fun forgetting me." It killed her to just say the words that she taped to her window years ago. She couldn't even finish. Her heart was hurting and she couldn't choke the rest of the words out.

"I sure will," Draco said, lingering there for another moment and seeing the pained look on Hermione's face before he walked out of the Hospital Wing.

She slowly made the rest of the way to her bed and laid down, her back facing Ron and Ginny. The last sentences of the letter he wrote years ago floated in her head.

_I'll never take the bracelet off and I'll never forget you. I promise._

Rubbish.

- x -

**A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I am endlessly sorry. **_**Two months**_** since I last updated? Oh, I'm terrible. I can't believe I kept you guys waiting for that long; it seemed so little time for me. I sort of got writer's block in the beginning of this chapter and I gave up on it for a little(which is absolutely horrible). But when I got past it, which was just recently, I couldn't stop writing. This chapter was originally supposed to be Hermione's holiday back home, but as I said, I couldn't stop writing. Did you guys like it? Maybe you didn't because of this whole Draco-and-Hermione-are-mean-to-each-other-now thing. It'll get better! I promise. (And I won't break it like Draco.)**

**Don't give up on me, and please proceed to reviewing. (:**


	15. Confession

_Chapter 14_

_Confession_

When Draco exited the Hospital Wing, a wave of pain crashed over him. He wanted to scream, to punch something, throw something. He bloody wanted _her_ and he felt like nothing could change that. For the first time in a while, he wanted to cry. Who was she to bring these emotions out of him? He didn't even _know_ he could feel these things, but Hermione, being the stubborn Gryffindor she is, changed that. Why was it her, out of everyone in the whole school?

God, now he wanted to _do_ something about the fact that she couldn't go home. And as he walked around and around the castle, he found himself thinking of plans to get Hermione home without her knowing it was him who brought her to it.

Without even knowing where he was going, Draco realized that he was in front of Professor McGonagall's office. He sighed and said the password before he could change his mind. The gargoyle hopped out of the way and revealed a door that he knocked on. A simple, "Come in" was said before he entered the office.

"Oh," McGonagall said, shocked to see him standing there. "What do you need, Mister Malfoy?"

"Professor," he started politely, "is there any way Granger can get home today?"

Again, she was shocked at his question. "Well, Madam Pomfrey wishes for her to go back tomorrow. She is not fit to go out in the cold and stay in a train for hours." She looked down at him over her glasses. "Why do you ask?"

"It's the last Christmas she'll be able to spend with her father, Professor," he told her with his teeth gritted. It was hard for him to stay polite.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy, but Madam Pomfrey knows what's best for Miss Granger right now."

_They don't even know a sodding shit what the best for her is._ "What's best? I'm sure it'd be best for her to spend her Christmas as perfectly as she planned." His hands clenched into fists.

"For her health, Malfoy. And it may not be what she planned, but she should be happy that she can still have this holiday with her father."

"After seven years of being her teacher, do you not know how she is already? If one little thing goes wrong with what she plans, she feels terrible about it and all she'll focus on is what went wrong instead of what went right." It always shocked him when he figured out something new he knew about Hermione.

"I cannot change what she thinks, but this is what's best for her health."

"So you're going to break her because you and Pomfrey don't think she can stay warm on a train for a few hours?" Professor McGonagall was about to say something about his attitude, but Draco kept speaking. "She _deserves_ to get this one perfect holiday after all the things she's done for us this past year, and all the years she's been here. If you go into the Hospital Wing and take one bloody glance at her, you'll see that she's miserable. Granger's a tough person and a couple hours on a train will be nothing compared to what she's went through before."

Professor McGonagall stared at him, surprise still etched on her face. She was surprised at the fact that Draco Malfoy cared for Hermione Granger. She never thought she'd see this as long as she lived. Something was going on between the two and it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

"Plus, she has my cloak and she's still wearing it. It's charmed to keep you warm even in the coldest temperatures," he added as an afterthought. God, why was he being so… _nice_?

She was tapping her fingers on the desk, still staring at Draco with the most professional incredulous look.

"Very well, I'll talk to Madam Pomfrey about it right now. But I cannot guarantee anything, Malfoy. I'm merely just trying to convince her," Professor McGonagall said, standing up from her seat and walking around it. Draco's mouth almost went agape. He was almost _sure_ that she would say no…

"You care a great deal about Miss Granger, don't you?" she asked, making Draco look up in surprise.

"Care?" He said it as if he never heard the word before. After all, it wasn't something he felt towards someone very often. Let alone _Hermione_ _Granger_.

Professor McGonagall merely smiled at his silence as she walked past him, out the door. After quite a long time, Draco realized that he didn't tell her to not tell Hermione that he came and talked to her. He didn't want her to know it was him. But by the time he came to his senses, she was already out of sight and she wasn't exactly a slow walker.

- x -

When Professor McGonagall walked into the Hospital Wing, she spotted Madam Pomfrey almost immediately, giving Hermione a potion. The student in bed had an upset look on her face, still thinking about the fact that she couldn't go back home today. Professor McGonagall walked up to the two.

"Poppy, you've informed Miss Granger that she cannot go back home today because of her health, am I correct?" she asked in that strictly professional voice that intimidated many.

Hermione looked up curiously at the mention of her name. The glass of potion in her hands was forgotten as she listened intently to the two adults speaking.

"Yes, Minerva. Because of the conditions she went through last night and the fact that she just woke up barely half an hour ago, it would not be fit for her to face those kinds of things right now. What she needs is plenty of rest," Madam Pomfrey explained, as if she were reading from a script. She looked at the Professor curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"I assure you that she can get more than enough rest while making her trip back home. The Hogwarts Express is comfortably warm and there's much room in the Heads' compartment to lay down and rest."

A smile was beginning to crack onto Hermione's face.

"But what about the potions and remedies she must take to get fully better as soon as possible?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Oh, that's not a problem at all. The potions and remedies can be taken onto the train. If you would just create a set of instructions of which ones to give her, how often, how many times, and how much she should take, that would be exceedingly helpful."

"But of course," Madam Pomfrey agreed, nodding her head reluctantly. "Someone should be with her at all times to make sure nothing goes wrong. And they must make sure she is warm and comfortable and not moving around much. Unless she has to go to the loo, of course…" She was still talking as she scurried off to her office to create the instructions already.

Hermione was beaming when Professor McGonagall looked at her with a twinkle in her eye.

"Thank you, Professor. It means a lot--"

"I'm not the one you should be thanking, Miss Granger," she interrupted. Hermione looked up at her with the most confused look on her face. She was about to ask who she _should_ thank, then, but Professor McGonagall interrupted the student. "I'm sure he'll reveal himself sooner or later. But I must go and seek for one of your friends, or the Head Boy. Poppy surely won't even consider letting you out to pack your things unless you're with someone… " She then walked out, a small smile on the Professor's face.

Before Hermione could even think about who it could be that she had to thank, Madam Pomfrey came out of her office probably to retrieve the glass of potion she was supposed to have drunk by now. She chugged it down in a remarkable two gulps before the mediwitch came into view and had a disgusted expression on her face when she did.

"I'll take this off your hands, then, Miss Granger," she said, taking the glass from her hands and scurrying back to her office again.

It was then that Hermione was able to think about what Professor McGonagall just said moments ago. Who got her to come down to talk to Pomfrey and convince her to let her go home today? She had a big hunch, but she pushed that boy's name to the back of her mind. It was either Ron or Harry, but would they even think of going to her office?

She pulled what she thought was Harry's cloak tighter around her. It made her feel so comfortable and the material was exquisite. It must have cost a great deal of galleons. Harry didn't usually spend his money on expensive things such as this, but she guessed that he just made an exception this time. It _was_ a great cloak.

Her mind wandered to what happened the night before. Her heart might as well have just broken again. She didn't _want_ to think about it and if she didn't have to, she wouldn't. Why was he always haunting her thoughts?

Then, someone entered the Hospital Wing and Hermione waited once again for whoever did to come into view. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was Professor McGonagall again and Harry.

"That was fast, Professor," Hermione said with a smile on her face.

"I know. Potter was just exiting the Great Hall when I found him. I'm grateful I didn't have to search all over the castle. Now, I'll leave Mister Potter here to assist you to the Gryffindor Common Room to pack up your things. I must return to my office now. I expect there to be some letters that need replying on my desk." Professor McGonagall nodded towards the two of them before she exited the Hospital Wing.

"Good news, huh?" Harry asked, a smile that Hermione decided to look too much into on his face.

"Amazing," she said, a happily suspicious look on her face.

Harry looked at her confusedly. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked as Hermione got off her bed. They started walking to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Are you the one I should be thanking for getting Professor McGonagall to talk to Madam Pomfrey?" She couldn't stop smiling at the way things were turning around.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

The smile faltered from her face a little bit. Then, who was it? "Did Ron talk to her?" she asked, knowing the answer was going to be no. Ron wouldn't think about going to the Professor.

"No, I was just with him. He's probably in the common room by now. Why are you asking?" When he looked over at his best friend again, the smile wasn't evident on her face anymore.

"I don't know," Hermione said at first. "I was thanking Professor McGonagall for talking to Madam Pomfrey, but she interrupted saying that she wasn't the one I should be thanking. She slipped that it was a boy, so I figured…"

_His_ name came into her head, but she refused to believe it was him.

"Bet I can guess who," Harry said, trying to make a joke, but failing miserably.

Hermione was silent the whole way back to the common room.

- x -

One and a half hours later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were in the Great Hall with their trunks, ready to leave Hogwarts for the holidays. The boys were playing a game of Wizards Chess, while Hermione and Ginny conversed about what they were doing for Christmas.

"Well, you know how things are at my house. Mum'll probably make enough sweets and cookies to blow all of us up and Fred and George will be coming up with new inventions for the joke shop. And I'm sure you know what we're all getting for Christmas from my mum. It's the same every year," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

"But can you honestly imagine a Christmas without one of your mum's sweaters? I sort of look forward to it now. Though the sweaters are simple, it always has that warmth I can't find from another."

"That's true," she admitted. "So, we're going to be able to ride in the Heads' compartment? I hear it's enormous and extremely comfortable. And that it's loaded with sweets!"

"Yes, it really is. But I never got the chance to ride in it because of the person I'd have to share it with. I was only there for a second to grab a parchment that Professor McGonagall left for us to take." Hermione pulled the cloak she was wearing tighter around her when she felt a draft come in. "Harry, how much Galleons is this cloak worth? It never fails to keep me warm."

"Beats me. Ask Malfoy," he said with a shrug.

Her heart fell into her stomach. "Why?"

"It's his cloak, isn't it? I would never buy a cloak with material as expensive as that. You know I'm just fine with cheap ones just as long as they keep me warm."

As she pulled to cloak closer to her face, she realized that the familiar scent coming from it was _Draco's_ not Harry's. She might as well have thrown it off of herself. It landed on the chessboard, knocking over quite a few pieces. The three of them looked over at Hermione confusedly. Now, all she had to keep her warm was a sweater. Another cold draft came into the Great Hall as someone opened the doors and she shivered, hugging herself.

"Hermione, are you crazy? Keep the cloak on. Malfoy says it came with a charm that keeps you warm through anything. Madam Pomfrey highly recommends that you wear this cloak," Ginny said, picking it up and handing it to her.

Hermione ignored her and lifted her trunk up to the table. She opened it up and dug through all the clothes until she found one of her cloaks. She took it out, put it on, and shut her trunk. It wasn't nearly as warm as Draco's, but she just had to manage.

"I'll be just fine without it," she said, pulling her cloak tighter around her. "Can you return it to him when you see him?"

Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes, and grabbed the cloak to return it to Draco, who was sitting at the Slytherin Table with Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle. The five of them looked up at the redhead when she came to them. Ginny held the cloak out to Draco.

"She wants me to return this," she said, a little hint of anger in her voice.

He took it, confusion etched on his face. "She's supposed to wear it."

"Well, it looks like she doesn't want to have anything that has to do with you." Ginny put her hands on the table and leaned in forward more. "This whole thing is ridiculous, you know that? I understand why she doesn't want to wear your cloak, but why did you make her like this? She's usually able to deal with it herself and give it back on her own."

"I didn't 'make her like this,' Weasley. If she chooses to react in that way, then that's not my problem," he snapped.

"What are you two going on about?" Blaise asked. Both of them ignored him completely, not even realizing that he spoke.

"Malfoy, you _know_ you didn't want to do that to her--"

"Of course I didn't _want_ to! That's just the way it has to be."

"Who said that? Who said that it _had _to be this way?" Her voice was so close to yelling, but she tried to hold it in. Harry and Ron were looking towards them. Hermione stared carefully at her hands as she listened to the conversation. She didn't want Ginny to talk to him, but what was she supposed to do now?

Draco looked around at his friends and then back to Ginny. No one was supposed to know about what was going on between Hermione and him, but _she_ had to come and yell it out to the world in his face.

"We've done enough talking about this. I'm done," Draco confirmed, slapping his hand on the table.

"No, we're not because it's not in your _thick_ head yet. This is the first step, Malfoy. How about you stop caring about what your dimwitted friends think?" she asked smartly.

"Dimwitted?" Pansy asked, offended. She was ignored.

"Weasley, it _can't_ happen. Bloody hell, just drop it."

"Ginny, it's okay," Hermione said, who was suddenly behind her. Everyone at the table was shocked at the sudden appearance of her. Draco swore he stopped breathing for a bit.

"No, it's--" Ginny started, but was interrupted by Blaise.

"This whole time, you two have been going on about the mudblood?" he asked incredulously. Draco's hand on the table clenched into a fist and his expression turned into a glare towards his friend. Hermione noticed this, but brushed it off quickly. There was no point since this moment was going to come into her head later.

"You want to yell at him, Malfoy. I can see it. But you're too afraid to get laughed at which is just _ridiculous_," Ginny said.

Draco didn't say anything. His eyes switched over to Hermione, who was trying to be very careful in not looking at him. She didn't succeed because when she dared to glance at him, he held her stare.

All he wanted to bloody do was kiss her until this all became better. This was a dangerous thought because he could easily just pull her in and do so. His eyes went down to her lips and that's when she spoke.

"Stop looking at me like that," Hermione said in a tone that could probably kill if she wanted it to.

Another cold draft entered the Great Hall and Hermione shivered, pulling her thin cloak tighter around her. She was still cold no matter how tight it was around her already. Draco desperately wanted to put her in his arms and keep her warm.

He wanted to hit himself for having these thoughts. They were so corny.

"Let's go, Ginny," Hermione told her friend as she tried pushing her away from the table.

Ginny looked as if she just failed an important mission while she let Hermione push her back to the Gryffindor table. Hermione felt his eyes on her the whole time.

- x -

When Harry, Ron, and Ginny entered the Heads' compartment, happy expressions took over their faces and they sat down on the comfortable seats, satisfied. Hermione now had Harry's cloak around her, on top of her own. It was a little warmer, but she couldn't deny that she felt better in Draco's cloak.

There was a cart of sweets that the boys immediately dug into. Harry got Ginny a Chocolate Frog and she smiled up at him, muttering a thank you. When he asked Hermione if she wanted anything, she just shook her head. Ron already had a chocolate stain on his cheek.

Hermione stayed quiet unless she was spoken to. She didn't really feel like talking right now.

Professor McGonagall stopped by their compartment a couple of times to make sure she was all right and to give her the potions she needed to get better.

Well into the train ride, Hermione had the need to go to the loo. Ginny asked if she would be fine and she said that she'd be right back. Hermione went outside the compartment, wrapping the two cloaks she had on tighter around herself. She went into the girls' lavatory and looked into the mirror. She looked terrible. Her hair was frizzy, she looked pale, and her eyes looked tired even though she slept for quite a while the night before. She tried to fix her hair at least a little bit, but nothing would do. Tired of trying to make herself more appealing, she walked out of the girls' lavatory and started walking back to the compartment.

Draco was walking out of the compartment he was sitting in right when Hermione was about to walk past it and literally bumped into her.

"Oh, I'm so--" She stopped abruptly in the beginning of her apology when she saw who it was she bumped into. Her breathing became shallow.

For the first time, he avoided looking at her eyes. Draco took a bottle out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"McGonagall said she forgot to give you this. Told me to give it to you. Drink it as soon as you can," he said. "And isn't someone supposed to be with you at all times?"

"I just went to the loo really quick, Malfoy. I don't need someone to assist me there also," she snapped. "I can take care of myself."

"Right," he said. He stayed there for just a second, wondering how she could _still_ look breathtaking when she looked like this.

Just when Hermione was going to continue walking, a door a few feet down the hallway at the end of the train opened. It was a door that led outside that a worker entered through probably from repairing something at the exterior of the train. A big draft swooped through the hallway and even a little bit of snow flew in also. Hermione felt as if her breath was taken away as she fell back against the wall, pulling the two cloaks she had on as tight around herself as she could to make herself warmer.

"Shit," Draco muttered as he hurriedly took his cloak off. Now _he_ was cold, but he figured at that moment, Hermione was more important than himself -- that's monumental, especially coming from a Malfoy. The man still didn't close the door that was sending this freezing weather through the hallway. Hermione was shivering now, and he had no idea what to do.

All of a sudden, she pushed herself off the wall and tugged on his shirt to bring him closer, burying her face in his chest. When his mind stopped wondering why she was doing this, he hesitantly put his arm around her to make the girl warmer. He then started walking her to the compartment that seemed as if it were on the other side of the world.

"D-Draco…" She was getting weaker and soon, it was him holding her up.

"Hold on, Granger," he said, opening up the door to the Heads' compartment. The surprised faces of the three of her friends immediately turned to their direction.

"Hermione!" each of them yelled, shooting up from their seats.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Some man opened a door that led outside and cold air started blowing through the halls," he said as he walked her to a seat. "I thought she wasn't supposed to be left unattended." He shot them an accusing glare.

"It was just the loo. And she said she wouldn't need anyone to assist her there," Ginny said, her voice rising.

Draco set her down in the corner by the window. Just when he was going to slide his arm off around Hermione, she grabbed his shirt again and buried her face in his chest. He was forced to sit down awfully close to her, his arm still around her shoulders.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny were surprised by the gesture and could do nothing but stare at his confused form.

"Granger, let go," he told her while putting his other hand over hers, trying to pull it away.

Her eyes were still closed, as if they were too heavy to open. "Stay," she managed to get out. Everyone in the compartment was taken aback by her demand.

"Why the hell would you want me to do that?" Draco asked. No matter how much he wanted to, he knew that shouldn't happen.

The grip on his shirt loosened. "I stayed with you."

As he stared speechlessly at the girl who's been making him mad these past few months, Harry, Ron, and Ginny exchanged confused looks, wondering what in the world she meant by that.

"That was different." A flash of the time he woke up that one morning in the Room of Requirement to find her sitting on a chair, leaning over the bed he slept on with her head in her arms came into his head.

Her eyes opened slightly and he hated that because now he wouldn't be able to look away.

"No, it wasn't," she said.

"How about this, Malfoy: if you stay, we'll go," Ginny suggested. Both Harry and Ron yelled out, "_What_?" and looked at her as if she were the craziest person in the world.

"No, I'm not staying," he stated, trying to get up once again, but failing when Hermione tightened her grip on his shirt.

"I don't think you have a choice, actually," Harry pointed out. Hermione looked as if she had already fallen asleep.

"Are you agreeing to this arrangement?" Ron said incredulously. "It's _Malfoy_ and _Hermione_!"

"We already talked about this, Ron," Ginny snapped dangerously. "Forget about it." She turned her attention back to Draco. "We'll go."

"Somebody just take my place. I can't stay here with her," he said. He felt Hermione's grip tighten once again on his shirt.

"She obviously doesn't want anybody else in your place," Harry told him.

"Come on," Ginny said, looking at the other two boys. "Let's go." Without thinking about it, she grabbed Harry's hand as they exited the compartment. He seemed surprised by the act, but followed her out as well. Ron sighed dejectedly as he walked out.

Draco stayed completely still, shocked at what just happened. He was now alone in the huge Heads' compartment with Hermione in his arms. What was the world doing to him?

He looked at her now sleeping form and just studied her face. Something happened to him in that moment that he didn't understand. The way it was right now seemed to just click. And no matter how corny it sounded, he couldn't help but think that this just felt _right_.

Draco reached to tuck a stray piece of her hair around her ear. Watching her, he thought about how it would be if the two of them became something. Imagine -- he'd be able to kiss her without having to worry about any kind of feeling because she'd already know he felt that way. He'd be free to tell her things no one else knew without worrying. He'd have _someone_ to care about.

But now it was too late. All the things he already said to her couldn't be undone. The chance was lost. He already broke her heart, so why would she accept him again? The only reason she wanted him to stay now was because she wasn't in her completely right state of mind. She was sick and couldn't think straight. That's why he's here right now, right? It's not because she actually _wants_ him to be there, but because she just wants _someone_ there, and that person just happens to be him.

Draco made sure she was fast asleep. When he shifted, her grip didn't tighten on his shirt and she was breathing deeply and rhythmically.

This was probably the only time he'd be able to say it to her, admit everything he's been feeling in just a few simple words.

This was big. When did he ever plan to say these words to anyone? Let alone _her_?

He didn't even think; he just said it. The words felt odd coming out of his mouth, but when he said them, he felt as if a huge weight was taken off his shoulders. Then, that huge weight came back again when he realized that she would never know he said those very words to her. He's never confessed anything so honest in his life.

"Hermione," he whispered. When she didn't shift or show any sign that she heard him, he continued, "I think I may be in love with you."

- x -

Hermione woke up, feeling very warm under the three cloaks she had on her. Opening her eyes, the first person she saw was Draco, who made himself comfortable on the opposite seat of the compartment. His back was leaning against the wall and his legs stretched across the seat. A book laid in his hands as his eyes roamed across the pages. She briefly wondered why he was there, but vaguely remembered that she had asked him to stay. Why? She had absolutely no idea.

She pushed the three cloaks off of her. The sudden movement caught Draco's attention and he looked over at her. He picked up the potion she was supposed to drink long ago and held it out towards her. She took it and gulped it down quickly.

After making a sour face at the horrible taste of the potion, she asked, "How close are we to Kings' Cross?"

"Half an hour or so," he replied, taking another bottle out of a case McGonagall had provided Hermione with. He gave it to her and she gulped it down the same way.

"Where are the others?" she asked, referring to Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"They left when you told me to stay." Draco met her eyes for a moment, then looked back down at his book.

Hermione thought about the day he got drunk and told her to stay with him in the Room of Requirement. That was the day she realized her feelings for him without actually admitting it to herself -- if that was even possible.

"Oh," she finally replied.

There was an awkward silence as Draco stared at his book, unable to read it, and Hermione played with the threads of her cloak.

And for the next twenty minutes until her friends came by to check on her, it was silent between the two of them.

-x-

Hermione got out of the train, finding her friends as she did so. Draco was somewhere, probably with Blaise and Pansy or something as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walked through the train station, dragging their trunks behind them. They found Mrs. Weasley almost immediately since she was right there, waiting for them. It was as if she had a front row seat to a big concert. She rejoiced when she saw them, giving them all bone-crunching hugs.

"Hermione! Oh, are you all right? I've already heard," Mrs. Weasley asked, still holding on to her shoulders.

"I feel so much better, actually. Almost as if it never happened," she replied, smiling at the woman's motherly care.

"All right, dear. Just make sure to drink your potions and remember, you are always more than welcome to stop by and celebrate the holidays with us!"

Hermione smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," she said. "I think I should get going now. I need to find my parents." Her eyes noticeably brightened at the fact that she would be able to see her mum and dad soon.

"Okay, feel better, dear! I'll see you soon." She hugged her again and then Hermione turned her attention to her friends.

They all took turns hugging her goodbye and after a couple minutes, Hermione was on her way through the train station, trying to find her parents.

Then, she saw them. Her mum was waving her hand in the air and her dad was in a wheelchair, looking as happy as ever, regardless of his current state. Her pace quickened immensely as she ran as fast as someone could run while dragging a trunk behind them. When she got close enough, she let go of her luggage and threw her arms around her mother and did the same thing to her father.

"Sweetheart, it's so good to see you," Mr. Granger said to her daughter. The three of them looked like the happiest people alive, the biggest smiles on their faces.

They lightly chatted for a bit. Hermione told them about some things that have happened around Hogwarts. She talked about Harry, Ginny, and Ron a whole lot and wanted to mention some happenings that occurred with Draco, but didn't want to speak about him right now.

As she was speaking, however, Mrs. Granger's attention was diverted to someone walking towards them. He was alone and didn't look too happy, but she felt a big burst of motherly feelings rush through her when she saw him.

"Oh, dear God, is that Draco?" she said, putting a hand to her heart. The boy stopped in his tracks at the mention of his name and could do nothing but stare at the family. Hermione didn't expect this to happen. Mrs. Granger walked up to him, a shocked expression on her face. "Oh, my, have you grown!" She looked as if she were about to cry. "You've grown up so much, I can't believe it," she breathed.

"Hi, Mrs. Granger," he greeted for the sake of being polite. There was no woman that acted more motherly towards him than Mrs. Granger in his life. Sure, his own mother loved him, but she didn't know how to show it most of the time. Like right now, for instance. His own mother wasn't even excited enough to see him that she'd get out of the Manor and meet him at the station. He was met by no one and would be going home without any kind of warm welcome.

He remembered all those years ago whenever he'd go to Hermione's house and Mrs. Granger would greet him as if he was her own son and treat him just as she would treat Hermione -- like family.

Mrs. Granger's eyes got shiny looking at him and she let out a laugh to cover it up. "Your face looks as if it hasn't experienced a smile in years! Oh, I can't believe this is what you've grown into. Last time I saw you is when you were ten and now you're seventeen… This is so overwhelming. My, you're so handsome! Isn't he, honey?" she finished as they both turned their attention to Mr. Granger.

He nodded, a kind smile on his face. "How have you been, Draco? Seven years and you've barely uttered a hello!"

Draco considered lying to them, but looking at their faces, he couldn't find the heart to. "Things can be better." His eyes flashed to Hermione, who looked horrified at the scene in front of her. Obviously, this was not how she planned this meeting to go.

"Would you like to stop by, Draco? We have dinner ready and you're always more than welcome to join us," Mrs. Granger suggested.

Hermione's eyes widened, but she didn't dare say what she desperately wanted to.

"No, it's okay," he replied. "I have to head home. My… mum is waiting for me." In the back of his mind, he also said, _"Not."_

"Are you sure? It'd mean a lot to my husband and me," she insisted.

"I can't. Sorry," Draco told her.

She looked discouraged. "All right. But if you'd stop by on Christmas, it'd mean a lot. You're always welcome, Draco. You remember that, don't you? I used to say that to you when you were younger, but it still stands when you're older."

"Thank you," was the last kind thing he could think of to say to her. It's been a long time since he's been around adults who truly cared about him, despite everything he's done in his life.

She still remained standing there, not quite believing that the little ten-year-old she knew so well could grow into this handsome man. A tear escaped one of her eyes and she hastily wiped it away.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, it's just been so long since I've seen you -- you were like a son--"

A warm feeling filled Draco at the amount of care Mrs. Granger was showing just by laying her eyes on him. She looked as if she were proud of him, even though she hasn't even known what's happened throughout the years. She looked as if he actually _meant_ something to her and that was enough to make Draco smile.

Yes, Draco Malfoy _smiled_.

"You know, that suits you," Hermione said suddenly, speaking for the first time since he arrived.

"What?" he asked confusedly.

"Smiling." She gave him a small smile that almost made him choke on his saliva in shock. A smile from her was never sent towards him. "Do it more often."

He was still speechless.

"Draco, you must stop by just for a couple minutes. You don't even have to eat dinner. Your company hasn't been in our house in years," Mr. Granger said.

"I can't." He looked as if he regretted saying that. If it was up to him, he certainly would accept the invitation, but he knew Hermione's wouldn't like that, so he refused.

"Mum, can I talk to him for a minute?" she asked, putting a hand on her mum's shoulder, but looking at Draco.

"Of course, sweetheart."

Hermione and Draco walked far enough so they were out of earshot of her parents.

"Look, I don't care anymore. Come if you'd like. I know my dad would love it if you did and though I don't prefer it… It doesn't matter, okay?" she said, looking uncomfortable and staring at anything but his eyes.

"I don't want to," he lied.

"You do, Draco." He looked up at her at the sound of his first name slipping off her tongue. She didn't even try to stop herself anymore. For God's sake, if she wanted to call him Draco, then she would call him Draco. Who cares? "Haven't we already clarified the fact that we seem to know a lot about each other by now?"

He couldn't recall when they actually _clarified_ it, but he's certainly been thinking the same thing.

"And plus," Hermione started again, "your mum isn't here and that's a bit sad. You probably didn't even want to return home for the holiday, but felt obligated to or something."

Draco stared at her. "How is that even possible?"

Hermione looked back at him. "You mean, how did I know you felt that way?" she asked. When he didn't say anything(which meant 'yes'), she sighed. "I just went over this. Whether you like it or not, I know you."

"You definitely don't _know_ me," he said in a tone that signaled an argument was about to start.

"I didn't mean it in an offending way, Malfoy," she said back, returning to calling him by his surname. "If you continue to keep this wall up where you block people from trying to know you, then I don't know what you're going to do. You need someone in your life that you'll let that wall down for."

"I don't _need_ anyone. I'm fine on my own and I don't need anyone to help me cope with things. I've been on my own for a while and I'm fine."

"Well, that's the biggest lie I've ever heard you say," she said. "If you were _fine_, then you wouldn't be talking to me right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you were fine," she repeated, "then you'd be at home happy with your mum. You wouldn't be here with me, trying to decide in your head if you're going to accept my parents' invitation or not."

"I've already decided that I'm not going," he confirmed.

"Fine," she said. "Then, this conversation's over."

"Tell your parents I said bye," he told her as he rose the handle from his trunk.

"Are you trying to break my mum's heart, too?"

Draco stopped. It would have been enough just to leave it at the, _"Are you trying to break my mum's heart?"_ But to add the _"too"_ to it just made it even worse for him to hear.

"She cried just looking at you and let's face it, you _were_ like her son and you're just going to leave without telling them goodbye?" Hermione obviously wasn't going to let him go without a proper farewell.

"Yeah, it'll show her the actual person I've become. The one who doesn't need anybody to be _fine_," he said.

"Now you're pushing my parents away? God, Draco, you have got to stop _doing_ that." She pointed a finger in his face. He backed away from it cautiously.

"Doing what?"

Hermione sighed, tired of repeating herself. "Can you _listen_? Stop pushing people away."

"I told you I don't need anyone."

"And when the time you _do_ need somebody comes, don't expect anyone to be there for you anymore." She muttered it so low that she didn't even expect him to understand it all.

"I have to go," he said, giving her one last look before he turned the other way and walked on.

And for some odd reason that Hermione could not comprehend, she felt like crying. Maybe it was the fact that it felt as if Draco just walked out of her life once again or it was the fact that he broke her heart the night before or maybe it was the fact that he just made her so angry that she wanted to cry.

Either way, she felt a pang in her heart and something told her that this was not how things were supposed to go.

Hermione walked back to her parents with shiny eyes and a fake smile. Her mum was about to ask her where Draco went, but she was way ahead of her.

"He said he 'had to go'. Which is complete rubbish." She mumbled the last part.

"That's all right, sweetheart," Mrs. Granger said soothingly as she put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"No, it's not," Hermione decided to say, looking her mum in the eye. "You _cried_ looking at him and you two were probably the only real parental figures he's ever had and he just runs away without _at least_ saying goodbye?"

"It's okay, Hermione," her dad said. "I know he'll come around."

"He won't because that's just how he is. No matter how much you tell him or imply it or how much you cry your eyes out for him and pour your heart out, it just won't happen."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger curious exchanged looks.

"Did something happen, Hermione?" her mum asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't matter now." She never could lie to her parents about anything. "I'm here with you two and I couldn't be happier." She smiled at her own words.

"But I'm telling you, Hermione," Mr. Granger said, pointing a knowing finger towards the blonde who just walked away from them, "he'll come around."

- x -

**A/N: Did you miss me? I'm back. Sorry for the long wait, though I know you're probably used to it now! School started again and my mind has been set on that lately. I also had writer's block and didn't get off of it until… a while, let's just say. I wrote this longer than most, if that makes up for anything.  
**

**Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter, or maybe you didn't exactly **_**like**_** it, but I sure hope you found it interesting in some way or another. And just a kind little reminder: I will not abandon this story. No matter how long it's been since I've updated, I will definitely complete this. I swear, this thing is always on my mind, but I can never update regularly. Please leave a review! And don't give up on me, please?  
**

**Oh, and by the way, I love you guys. I really do, and your reviews put a smile on my face every time. (:  
**


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